A Race of the Pulse
by Unyielding Wish
Summary: His heart hammers as he realizes what she is about to do next. - Mainly a few GakuLuka fics/drabbles. Hope you enjoy. /STORY COLLECTION\\
1. A Rainy Day

**Hello, a few GakuLuka fics~  
**

**A/N: I might want to add this. This is AU, and in this story Gakupo's an innocent 18-year-old boy with a crush on 22-year-old Luka, who has a job near his school. It's different than most of the stories, where Gakupo's older than Luka and trying to charm her and Luka's replying with "Go Google It"…-.-**

* * *

It was a cruelly wet day; the rain came down in torrents, beating and attempting to destroy the windows in Luka's home in its shrieking rage. The wind howled, trying to push down the door.

Luka observed this weather as she looked out to the streets. Not a pedestrian was in sight, but a whole bunch of cars were stuck in traffic.

"Idiots," she muttered to herself. Why would anyone be out in the weather, anyway, car or not?

Then she noticed a figure. A figure, in a dull brown cloak, walking down the street and fighting against the rain and wind. Bright purple hair poked out of the hood. Luka recognized at once who it was.

_Good grief…_

Not caring about the rain anymore, she threw open the window and screamed at him, causing nearby people in cars to stare, "GAKU! You idiot! Why are you here?" She was getting drenched by the water pouring out of the clouds, but she couldn't care less. Luka carelessly brushed a chunk soaked strands of hair out of her face and yelled, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, DUMBASS!"

Gakupo blinked and looked up, trying to keep rainwater out of his eyes. His answer was lost, carried away by the strong wind.

Luka sighed. "Just come over and make sure you didn't catch pneumonia yet!" Then she closed the window, dripping wet. In the corner of her eye she caught a sight of Gakupo running across the street and toward her house. Sure enough, a few seconds later, there was an incessant pounding on the door.

"I'm getting it!" she hollered, and opened the door to find Gakupo shivering in the cold.

"Geez, do I have to babysit you?" Luka muttered, dragging him in. She grabbed a towel and rubbed hard on his hair, trying to take the dampness out. Gakupo winced at the strength she applied to his dark fuchsia hair.

"There, I'm done, you hopeless idiot," Luka said. She threw the towel in a random way. Gakupo's eyes followed the towel's trip. Luka turned on her heel and began walking back toward her spot on the windowsill, where she would sit and write poetry.

"Um…" he said awkwardly to her retreating back.

"Yes, what?" Luka turned around, eyebrows raised.

He ducked his head, trying to hide his blush. "Nothing." After a few moments, he added hesitantly, "Can I watch you?"

"Mmh?" Luka held her pen poised above the paper as she thought of the things to write about. Her eyes landed on him just the moment he asked. "Oh…," and absently adding, "Yeah, you can…Just don't disturb me…"

Gakupo nodded. "Okay." He shyly walked up to her and took an unstable seat on the edge of the windowsill.

Luka's gaze diverted from her paper. "You're going to slip, idiot." She grabbed Gakupo and lifted him farther onto the wide windowsill, until his back was leaning against the windowpane. "There," she said, smiling smugly. "Now, look at me."

Gakupo's face heated up. "Why?"

"Because I'm going to write a poem about you."

* * *

_With eyes similar to amethysts_

_A skin of snow, _

_And with hair like orchid-toned silk,_

_You are the one_

_Who I dream of spending my life with.  
_

* * *

-End-


	2. Humid Park

**AHAHAHAHA! Hi peoples! Missed me? :O No, probably not. But since Ten-Faced reviewed like the moment I published ze last chapter …here's a new chapter. Just got motivated. :P **

**Also, in this story, Luka's like 12 and Gakupo's like 8…**

* * *

It was hot and humid and sticky. The air seemed to cling to your skin like the way an ivy plant clings to a stone wall. Luka scowled, kicking a rock from her position on the bench. There wasn't a single shade in this park—well, there was, but all of the shades were already taken up by families and kids in strollers and one of those soccer players who would kick you in the shins if you wanted some of their shade.

Luka looked around for something else she could use to cool down—a fan-selling man, maybe, or an ice cream stand…a pool would be great…

She heard a splash behind her, and immediately turned around to see where it was from, and heard a drawn-out "owww" behind her. Luka had swerved around so quickly that her hair whipped someone in the face.

"Sorry, kid," Luka said, not bothering to turn around. "Are you alright?" she added as an afterthought, in case the kid thought she was too impolite.

There was a soft "swish-swish" as sandals padded on grass. The person who she had hit with her hair came up to her. "It's a pool."

"Of course it is." _Does that kid think I'm stupid or something? _

A hand slipped into Luka's own sweaty palms. Surprised at this sudden act of affection, she looked downwards, and her cerulean blue eyes met with shy sapphire orbs. She was staring into the face of a young, purple-haired little boy who couldn't have been more than eight or nine.

"I finally got permission to leave the hospital today," he told Luka softly. "I can't find Mommy. She's somewhere in that pool. Can you help me?"

After taking a second glance, Luka noticed more details. The pale, thin cheeks. The bony hands, the legs which looked like they were composed of skin and bone. He wore a purple tee-shirt and tan shorts, his hair up in a high ponytail. His eyes stared pleadingly into Luka's. "Will you?"

Luka couldn't resist. "Come on," she said, tightening her grip slightly on his hands, breaking her gaze away from him. "Let's go find your mommy. If I'm right, she should look like you…"

That moment, the grin that lit up his entire face could have made a pitch-black, moonless night aglow with its light. "Yeah! She does."

* * *

**…Not as good as the last one (I think) and it's shorter, but here Gakupo's completely different, with a completely different background…yeah…I don't want to make him boastful. It's just not in my current mood. Lol. :P**

**Please R&R!**

**~Unyielding Wish**

**P.S. I might add more tomorrow afternoon...right now it's like 9:00 p.m. and I should be getting my sleep because there's a state-wide test tomorrow...XD  
**


	3. Tuesdays and Plumbing

**Heh. Back again. I wrote this in my journal late at night, but since I can't find my journal at the moment, I'm just putting what I remember I put on there. And if I can't do it well—then I'll think of something to fill up the spaces. :P **

**HI EVERYBODY. HOW'S YOUR MONDAY?**

**Anyway, on with the story :D  
**

* * *

Tuesdays were always a disaster day for Luka, and rightly so. Every Tuesday, _something_ had to go wrong, and that something often turned out to be something inconvenient for her to do. Today was no exception. She had to buy tuna, the tuna store was closed, she went to the supermarket, her canned tuna turned out to be a few measly pieces of tuna fat (ewww), she tried to bake a cake, and the kitchen ended up to be a mess that would be impossible to clean up before Gumi arrived—

Oh, right. Gumi.

Gumi would be visiting Luka for a few hours, mainly because her brother had "gotten this crazy idea in his head that he'd be cleaning out the entire house within 300 minutes, so I'd better scoot," Gumi had explained to Luka on a phone call the day before. "I don't want to breathe the fumes of those crazy chemicals he sprays on the house."

Luka rolled up her sleeves and put on her apron. Thank goodness she still had carrots. She could probably fashion a carrot cake that was at least edible before Gumi came over. Truthfully, she wasn't good at that stuff, but _Joy of Cooking_ could probably help her through.

Luka grabbed the book from one of her highest shelves and eagerly leafed through it, trying to find something, _anything_, that involved carrots.

-10 minutes later-

"Carrot mousse is _way _too hard…salmon with carrots as a side, it looks easy, but I don't have salmon, nor do I have an oven…carrot mashed potatoes…Seriously, I thought this book was for beginners."

-20 minutes later-

"YES! I got the mixing portion right!"

-30 minutes later-

"DAMN TUESDAYS!"

-40 minutes later-

"ANOTHER CARROT CAKE! ANOTHER CARROT CAKE! …Only 20 minutes left…"

-50 minutes later-

"AGH! Forget it."

-An hour later-

Three energetic knocks sounded on Luka's door. Before she even went over to look through the peephole, Luka knew Gumi was outside. Quickly taking off her apron, brushing strands of hair away from her face, and smoothing her salmon pink tresses, she hoped that she could look decent enough that Gumi wouldn't be wondering about her appearance.

"Lu-chaaaaaan!" Gumi ran inside and hugged Luka tightly. "Thank goodness! I made it just when Gumiya took out the spray bottle."

"Honestly, I don't know how you can escape Gumiya and make it to my house on time," Luka replied, prying Gumi's arms off of her.

"Well, you know, when I set my mind to something, I do it…" Gumi got the hint and got off of Luka, then closed the door behind her. "Hey, Lu-chan, you smell like flour, and the kitchen"—Gumi took a peek at the kitchen from behind Luka—"the kitchen is…it looks like aliens demolished it or something…"

Luka groaned. Seriously, Gumi had to describe her kitchen in such a sci-fi way just now? "Yeah, I tried to bake a carrot cake. Didn't work out that well."

"Carrots?" Gumi's eyes got wide. "You've got carrots?"

Luka shrugged. "Tons of them. In the fridge."

"Yes!" Gumi pumped her fist in the air and jumped, but for a moment she seemed to stop in midair. And drop down. "Uh, Luka, I think I need to use the bathroom…"

"Go ahead…" Luka mumbled.

A few minutes later, Gumi's voice sounded from the bathroom. "Er, Luka?"

"What?"

"I think your toilet's broken. It won't let me flush. …Well, it did, but all it did was to fill with water and the contents won't go down the drain."

"Maybe your poop is too big for the hole."

"I peed."

"…I need to call the plumber."

* * *

Another knock came from the door. Luka opened it to see a young man dressed in bright green and with long violet hair tumbling down his back from a high ponytail. He was holding a plumber's tools.

"Miss…you were the one who called, didn't you?" he asked, with a slightly confused face. It took a moment for Luka to realize that she was gaping at him like 'What in da name of BEEEEP are you doing here'.

"Yeah…, come in…" Luka stepped aside, and the guy went in. Upon hearing footsteps, Gumi poked her face out of the bathroom, and her peridot green eyes widened in surprise.

"Gaaaakku-chan!" she ran over and hugged him.

Luka was quite taken aback by this action. Unless Gumi went around, calling everybody nicknames and hugging them, she was pretty sure that this was reserved for intimate people like her or Gumiya. "You know him?"

"Yeah, I'm Gumi's cousin…" "Gakku-chan" looked back at Luka. "So, about the toilet…"

"Ah, yes, Gakupo," Gumi cut in. "You see, I flushed the toilet but the things that I inserted in there wouldn't go down the drain…"

"Gumi…did you put more than pee in there?" Luka ominously raised an eyebrow.

Gumi shook her head honestly. "No. You can even go ahead and look if you're not sure."

Luka backed away. "I would, but…no, thanks."

* * *

"Done!" Gakupo emerged from the bathroom, smiling cheerfully. "It's just that someone flushed tuna down there, and it caused an obstruction…" He handed her a card. "Call me again if you need help, or if someone flushed more tuna down the toilet." He winked, and left.

* * *

During the following weeks and months, Gakupo the plumber visited Luka's home more than a total of twenty-six times. And all of the times involved tuna—that is, except for the last visit, when there was a plumber tool down there too.

Later, when Luka was trying to flush the toilet, the plumber's tool popped out. Immediately she phoned Gakupo, and the answer was "Yeah, I'll fix it again. And I'll only charge a kiss for it."

Which, Luka would proudly admit, she happily went along with.

* * *

**I don't know what got into me...I decided to do humor along with this story. XD So do you like it?**

**Please R&R! :D  
**

**~Unyielding Wish  
**


	4. Holocaust

**Now, I'm back with another chapter of "A Race of the Pulse"…This one was inspired by Rin and Len—Rin's song "Paper Plane" and Len's "Prisoner". It's also a combination of Anne Frank's story. I give credit to them. **

**Also, to those who are bothered strongly by Hitler…I would advise you to not read this chapter, because Hitler **_**is**_** mentioned (though I replaced his name with Ted Kasane…sorry Ted O_o)**

**The happenings in this story aren't exactly the same as those in Paper Plane/Prisoner, nor is it like Anne Frank's, but they all involve concentration camps…now, enough of my blabbering. Enjoy my story :D**

* * *

_He could see it now._

_The tender white flesh, its pink scales on top of it, as if it was armor for the soft weakness beneath, was stacked in a steaming pile in front of him in abundance. When he finishes these, more would magically appear…_

_That would be pure bliss, he thinks as he hungrily stretches his arm toward them…_

_Yes, he could taste it now, the juicy meat sifting around in his mouth, his teeth grinding on the savory shiny scales—_

* * *

"Ack."

A purple-haired boy stopped short and stared in dismay at the thing in his hand. It was this thing that he had bitten a chunk of. A dry, dusty substance filled his mouth and throat, making him even thirstier and increasing breathing difficulty.

_It's chalk_. How could he have ever thought it was the delectable grilled shrimp with a preferred side of preferred eggplants he had dreamt of tasting? He shook the thought off; _My hunger is driving me crazy. It's really nothing to worry about._

Still, brushing a strand of straggly, thin purple hair out of his eyes, he wondered how long it would last. How long _he_ would last, in this lonely concentration camp, miles away from anywhere. Each day he would see more and more innocent people being dragged into the gas chambers; in fact, his blue-haired friend, Kaito, had been locked in there for more than a month. He vaguely thought whether Kaito was still alive or not…

He looked back at the material in his hand, which was now coating his fingers and palm a light shade of pink. He stared blankly at it before dropping it; the chalk fell to the ground with a small clatter, and broke apart. He would have continued standing there if there wasn't a rather loud creaking noise behind him.

Turning around, he raised his sapphire eyes to the door, which had been opened by someone—or something. A slice of golden light fell through the crack, and he could see the shadow of a girl standing in the light. A pair of aquamarine blue eyes stared back at him, almost glowing in the dark. He shifted slightly and stood up, gazing rather intimidatingly at the stranger.

The young girl who stood face-to-face with him had cherry blossom pink hair and was dressed in white rags. There were scars and scrapes on all four limbs. She slowly pushed the door, in a way that the opening was wider for her to walk through.

"Your name is Gakupo, right?" she asked, stepping forward lightly. He noticed how her footfalls made little to no sound at all. Nodding, his eyes followed her every move, thus discerning more detail; he noticed that she walked with a slight limp. His eyes traveled down to her feet, and there he noticed a severely deformed ankle, so bad that it almost looked like a club foot, except the back of the foot was facing front when she was in a normal walking position.

She noticed him staring at her ankle, and quickly acted to hide it. Ashamed, she turned her face away, her luscious locks tumbling down her back. "It was…a disease…I had it when I was younger…"

He only nodded, like he was only half-registering what she had said. "What's your name?" he asked, his own voice sounding like a hoarse croak from a frog to his very ears. Gakupo had not spoken in a very long time, not since Kaito, who had also been his roommate, had been sent to the gas chambers.

"Luka." The word escaped her lips so easily. She sat down next to him, on the hard bed. "I just came because they're getting newer prisoners in and they need room," she told him rather flatly.

"That means we have to share a bed?" Why did he care? He and Kaito had to share a bed all the time.

Luka nodded. "Gakupo." It was the first time his name had been spoken from someone's lips that were not his own, or his family's, or Kaito's.

"What?" Gakupo slid off.

"I also heard that…" Luka paused, unsure of how to phrase it. "I also heard that all of the gas chamber victims—the last of them, anyway—have died, so they're going to rake in more."

Gakupo nodded. It didn't bother him as much as it should…he was becoming numb to the outside world. "Okay. I'm fine with that. Thanks."

* * *

_Two months passed, and Luka and Gakupo were closer than ever. They seemed to have developed a passion for each other, and would not do anything without the other (which was mainly eat, sleep, and occasionally talk). Rumors had been running around lately that Ted Kasane, who was in charge of the Nazi groups, was close to surrendering. Thus, the prison guards had been making excessive amounts of people go into the gas chambers. _

* * *

The feel of steel handcuffs biting into fragile, thin skin hurt. A lot. So did whippings. Being jerked around by the collar hurt too, but none of them could compare to being insulted. Called names.

Gakupo had to suffer a combination of these four on a wet day in late April. He was pushed around like this until he was in front of a giant gray building. The guards were talking to other guards, so Gakupo took this moment to observe it.

No windows. Not a door in sight except for the one in front of him. _"When a soul enters these doors, they never come back out alive…"_ Everything was gray, gloomy, and dark.

"Come on, kid," a guard said in a rough voice, grabbing him by chains that held his wrists together, so he was promptly dragged to the doors; at some places both feet left the ground, like he was flying.

Suddenly his thoughts flashed back to Luka. He had been caught like this when he went out to get some flowers for her to occupy herself with. _She's probably wondering where I am right now…_ Gakupo struggled against the guard's grip. "W-wait…"

"No time to wait, kid!" the guard slapped him across the cheek. Biting his cheek where he had been slapped, he tried to ease the sting.

"Wait…I need to—" He tried again.

"What are you dawdling for?" another guard growled, giving him a rough push on the back.

Sapphire eyes opened wide as the first guard let go of his wrists, sending him falling into the dark building. His pupils dilated as the doors swung back to their original position. "Wait…" In a desperate action, he pushed himself up and made a grab at the doors.

It was no use. The doors were sliding away from him…

"Wait!"

There was only a crack left…that tiny sliver of silver light…

"STOP!"

With a click the doors closed. His hand closed on thin air, just a centimeter away from the crack from which the doors opened. For a moment he stood frozen; then, his hand dropped to his side as he continued staring at the doors.

"I…wanted to say goodbye."

* * *

_Kamui Gakupo_

_Died April 19, 1945_

_Friend of Kaito Shion and Megurine Luka_

A limping pink-haired woman set the roses at the base of the tombstone, kissed each one, and walked away.

* * *

**…I don't know why I attempted this feeling here…I'm really bad at angst, but the whole time I was thinking of a GakuKai fanfic, on Kaito's feelings about this… I know this one was probably an unpleasant surprise because of all the fluffs and the humor earlier. Reading one of my drabble collections is like riding on a rollercoaster XD**

**...God, I seriously need to do more research on the holocaust. Writing this was a challenge for me. Anyway, super cheesy story, yes...please review!  
**

**~Unyielding Wish**


	5. Swirling Blossoms

**I wrote this on here, rough draft and all, so please point out any mistakes. I was too lazy to write it on somewhere else. T_T Anyway...I got this from my head, when I was thinking about this anime I created in my head and all and this just came to mind. So I decided to write something that's like it.  
**

**It seems like it's sorta connected to Chapter Two but you can think whatever you want :D  
**

* * *

A silver bracelet lay on a desk, glinting in the afternoon light. Pale fingers slipped it onto a wrist and unclasped the lock of the heart that dangled from the chain. The picture of a boy not more than twelve or thirteen was stuck onto the inside of the heart.

Staring at that familiar face brought back memories.

With a sigh, the pinkette closed the locket back up, moment broken. She turned back to the computer, trying to work at her story in peace, but the irritating _ding_ of a new chat message on Gmail distracted her. In annoyance, she opened up the page and her fingers flew across the keyboard, typing out a message. With a satisfying "click", the message got across.

_Luka (15:35:12):_ QUIT SENDING ME CHATS! I'M BUSY.

There was a moment before a response popped up.

_hatsune miku (15:35:20):_ told u bakaito _(sent from the iPhone)_

_Luka (15:35:35):_ That applies to you too, Miku.

Luka pushed a lock of cotton candy pink hair out of her aquamarine eyes and glared at the screen, as if silently challenging it to show what Miku or Kaito would type next.

_KAITO :D (15:36:00): _HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAPWNEDMIKU

_hatsune miku (15:36:16): _ur the one whos pwned. _(sent from the iPhone)_

_KAITO :D (15:36:45):_ D: YOU'REMEANMIKU

_Luka (15:36:16):_ SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP.

_**Luka is now offline. **__  
_

Happy at the silence she was now granted, Luka opened up the document again, but now her fingers paused on top of the keyboard, wondering what to write. _Those idiots took away my ideas_, she thought, incensed now. She looked around desperately for an inspiration, and her eyes landed on the bracelet on her wrist.

* * *

_He had always been very antisocial. He was not one to go out of the house simply because he wanted to. She had known him only as an acquaintance solely because he went to school and was in her class. Their relationship started when she happened to be passing by his house on an errand, and heard him singing along with a video. His surprisingly naturally deep voice had captured her soul, and her virginity along with it._

_They had come together surprisingly fast. In a year they were going out together. His cold demeanor slowly melted away to raw, honest sweetness, like winter snow washing off the new spring ground.  
_

_Then he left, a part of her heart leaving with him.  
_

_It was a beautiful spring day when that happened. They were sitting on a bench in the midst of cherry blossom trees, the fuse of the flowers enveloping them entirely. The scent made the air hazy and heavy, loaded and perfumed with the gentle smell that now seemed to pressing upon them.  
_

_"Don't you think it's a beautiful day?" she asked him, smiling.  
_

_He smiled back, although she felt that something was rather off about his smile—as if he was faking it. "It's splendid."  
_

_Her eyes combed his face, taking in every feature. A worried look passed before her eyes. "Are you okay?" she questioned. "Is anything wrong?"  
_

_Now she could see his hesitation. He swallowed and got up, pacing back and forth among the trees, a crunching sound under his boots as they crushed the fallen cherry blossoms, which were so thick that they made a carpet. His shoes made imprints in that carpet.  
_

_"If I told you I was going away, what would you say?"  
_

_Her eyes widened as she took in the news. "You're going away?"  
_

_He nodded. "I got a scholarship for this boarding school, Hiyama's or something, and my mom wants me to go. If I don't, I'll probably be thrown out of the house, and I'm not old enough to take a job. It'll be okay," he added quickly as her face began to crumble.  
_

* * *

Luka stopped and observed her work. It was a bit angsty for what she would usually write, and it wasn't quite the real story of what happened, but in a way it suited her mood, so she left it like that. She glanced back at the bracelet, but the legend it held had already been told, brought into the computer. There was no more to write about it.

Luka stood up and shut down the computer, then put on her coat. While writing the story, she had decided to visit the park once more, the exact same spot where they had parted. She also planned to visit the cherry tree where she had carved her initials in along with a man's. With a smile, she thought briefly about retracing the carving in case it had worn away.

* * *

"I can't believe it! I can't believe it!" Miku was practically dancing with happiness as she shoved a piece of paper into Luka's hands. "Look! Tickets for a free tour around Hiyama's boarding school! He's like, _the_ hottest guy ever!"

"Kiyoteru Hiyama?" Gumi asked. "I don't know, he seems like a normal guy to me."

Miku pouted. "That's because you don't know _anything_ about guys! You don't even keep up to date!"

Rin shrugged. "Len's all there is for me. I'm fine with hanging out with him." She tossed her ticket onto the floor. "I don't want to go to the boarding school thingamajiggy. It's just a waste of time when I can be happily in bed."

"With Len?" Gumi asked, turning around with a grin.

A crimson flush crept its way onto Rin's cheeks. "You have a problem with me sleeping?"

Luka thought back to the boy who left her. Didn't he mention a boarding school? And the name of the boarding school—what she recalled of it—seemed similar to the word…

"I'm going," she announced.

"Really?" Miku's turquoise eyes lit up. Her long pigtails bounced as she jumped around Luka. "Yes!"

"But…I have a question," Luka said quietly.

"What?"

"…How did you get the tickets in the first place?"

* * *

"Well…I found them in my mailbox…" Miku looked down at her teal-heeled black boots. "I found them in my mailbox, from this anonymous person. Didn't even say the name, not the location either. I figured that they were from my dad or something, he's always traveling to cool places in the world…Well, either that, or it's mismailed."

Rin cocked an eyebrow. "Are you sure it's not illegal to take the tickets?" she asked, running a hand through her honey blonde hair.

"Well," Miku responded defensively, "we only have a chance like this in our lifetimes, so why not use it?" She placed her hands on her hips as she stared at Rin, who stared back shamelessly.

After a long silence, Gumi stood up. "Well, go if you want to, I don't feel like it. Miku, you can borrow my party dress…"

"Really? Really? I can?"

"Yeah. It's the one with the hat that has a green hatband and chartreuse flowers on it, you know? And it's a white dress with green ruffles beneath and a few chartreuse flowers connecting the ruffles to the waist."

"Whoa! Thanks!" Miku ran over and hugged Gumi, who shrugged out of her grip.

"That's what friends are for."

* * *

Miku clutched Luka's elbow as they were buffeted through the crowd. Apparently a lot of other people had gotten free tickets too; otherwise, it was the day that Hiyama's boarding school was showcasing itself. That seemed to be the case. People swarmed around them, and some were calling others' names—"TETO! Oi, Teto!" "Loooooolaaaaaa?" "MIKI! IF YOU'RE NOT AT THE STAGE IMMA KILL YOU…"

Miku's turquoise eyes flicked around the crowd as she pressed closer to Luka. "God, I'm scared…"

Luka nudged her. "What's there to be scared of? Come on, all we need is to get a good seat to see the stage." She craned her neck, pretending to look for a decent seat. Truthfully, they were all pretty nice; the chairs were of metal frame that was painted gold and shimmered in the light, and the cushions were plush, made of red velvet. Each table was round and covered with a lacy tablecloth that must have cost quite some money. In the middle of each there was a crystal glass with a rose in it, or some other bouquet of flowers. _Some romantic place_…

But actually, she was trying to look for him. The boy, whose picture was in the locket. Whose name was Gakupo Kamui.

* * *

"Two days, and not a glimpse of him," Luka muttered as she logged onto her Facebook account. "This tour only lasts for a week…and he might've gone somewhere else or graduated this school early…If I can't find him on Facebook, seriously, I'm going to leave this place."

Miku looked up from her highly mesmerizing book and stared questioningly at Luka. "Leave? Which place? I like it here."

"Nothing." Luka rubbed her temples as she watched her cursor turn into spinning blue circle, indicating that Internet Explorer was loading. After a few seconds, the page loaded, and Luka scrolled through the results. Miku put down her book (which, Luka saw, was _The Wizard of Oz_) and walked over to Luka's side, eagerly reading the page over her shoulder even though Facebook search results shouldn't be interesting.

" 'Gakupo'?" Miku asked. She looked through the results with Luka, then pointed at a certain picture. "Hey! Look at that guy. He looks gay."

"Huh?" Luka blinked. The picture was not as clear as it would be if she clicked on his name. But the vibrant purple hair was easily discernible from the gray-and-white background, and from what she could decipher from it, his hair was tied up in a high ponytail. She quickly clicked on him, and his page popped up.

_Okay, that has _got_ to be him._

His first, most recent post was at least thirty minutes ago.

_**Gakupo: **I'm going for a walk in the park, 'kay? Clear my mind, and it reminds me of someone. ;) _

_—Show Comments (34) _

"I'm going out, okay?" Luka knew exactly where the park was, kudos to the tour she had yesterday.

Miku blinked at her. "Why?"

Luka shrugged, not in the mood for a comeback. "I'll be back…you won't have to worry about me running away, because there's nowhere to go."

* * *

The park near Hiyama's boarding school happened to be very similar to the park Luka and Gakupo had been playing around when Gakupo hadn't been given a scholarship. There was that familiar scent of cherry blossoms and the park even had its own grove of cherry trees, much like the park back home. Luka could see why, if he was the real Gakupo, the reason he would come here to "clear his mind".

There was a small stream cutting through the grove, and Luka ran over, taking off her sandals and feeling the water rushing past her ankles. She had stood there for several minutes before she caught sight of a purple-haired person wearing a white dress sitting at the bank, staring blankly at the water.

_How very peculiar._

Luka walked over and poked the girl's shoulder. Might as well be friendly, even if she reminded her of Gakupo. "Um, hello?"

The girl's head snapped up, and she stared at Luka with a surprised expression. That was when Luka noticed how masculine her jaw looked…the sapphire eyes looked very familiar…how very _flatchested_ she was, to the point that it wasn't natural unless she had had both of her boobs cut off because of breast cancer of something…

"Gakupo?" Luka blurted, before she could stop herself.

The girl reared and backed away. "Luka…I don't…"

_Okay, now that is _definitely_ Gakupo._

Luka's hand shot out and grabbed Gakupo by the collar of his dress. "Seriously, what were you thinking, that you'd fool _anyone_ by doing this?" Even his hair was done in a girly manner, goddamnit.

A pinkness flitted across his cheeks, and he looked down at his bare feet, which were now half-sunken in mud, which felt surprisingly good, in fact. He made a mental note to wash his feet once he got back to his dorm.

"Anyway," Luka said, sticking her finger under his chin and pulling it up so that he looked at her, "I was thinking that we should get back together again."

"But Luka—"

Luka cut him off with a swift kiss, that lasted for only a few seconds, but when she pulled away, he was gasping for breath. Needing no more coaxing, Gakupo slipped his hand into hers and mumbled, his face tomato red, "Come on."

* * *

**YESYESYESYES! I finally finished this. FINALLY! It took me so long, it was so hard to write. I'm just not the type of writer who writes like this. :P My speed isn't good, and some parts are totally fast and other parts are totally slow. -.- Anyway, review please**

**(BTW: Apologies to people who are waiting for the next chapter. And thanks for Mayumi Selnia for pressuring me. :D Or else, I could have never motivated myself enough to finish this, only to let it go stale in my documents. Also thanks to Ten-Faced, because I kept reminding myself that she SUBSCRIBED TO THE STORY, DAMMIT, SO FINISH IT ALREADY. Lol. Do I make you sound like a stalker again?)  
**

**~Unyielding Wish  
**


	6. The Unexpected: Part One

**...And yet another chapter of _A Race of the Pulse_. I'm having great fun doing this. :D**

**This one happens to center on an eccentric young man by name of Gakupo who inherited his father's fortune. And Luka meeting him and...Okay, I'm not going to spoil it.  
**

* * *

For Luka, each day had a different mood that accompanied it, and this day happened to be Saturday. Saturdays happened to be boring. Just...boring.

To spend the Saturdays, Luka usually went out for a ride or went to Miku's leek store, in which Miku always had a story in store for her. Or she could go take the Bart to Meiko's home, which was littered with sake cans and bottles. Usually, Luka opted for Miku.

But Miku's store was closed.

And Luka didn't feel like visiting Meiko right now.

* * *

The silver car keys shimmered in Luka's palm as she grabbed them off the table and headed outside. It was a tremendously hot day and Luka wished that Miku hadn't chosen to close the store on _this_ day. She wanted to feel the cool air blasting at her from all sides, in the store which was only a block away but was now closed due to an emergency meeting between Miku and one of her employees who smashed a crystal vase in a fleet of rage the day earlier so Miku wanted to patiently coax the explanation out because of the nice person she was.

The hot, stuffy air was really hard to breathe, and the fact that chemicals from a nearby city were polluting it didn't improve its condition. Luka grimly jabbed her car key into the slot, and unlocked her car, and wrenched her key out, not caring about any damage she had inflicted on the slot.

The moment after starting up the car, she slammed her foot on the gas pedal and her pink convertible roared to life. It screeched down the road, its wheels kicking up dust that left the few passersby on the streets coughing in its wake. Luka began to feel a little bit better as she coursed down the road at top speed, her vibrant hair streaming behind her.

She was having so much fun that she didn't care about the people who gawked at her from the streets, unlike her usual self. In fact, Luka didn't even know where she was going and yet in a way she was enjoying this sort of unknown knowledge.

Luka would have kept driving until she earned a ticket or crashed, had she not passed by a car that looked just as eccentric as hers. Immediately her foot found the brake, and the car lurched to a stop, which was a good thing because there was a red traffic light right in front of her. Luka looked to the side to study the strange car and its owner.

For one, it happened to be purple. A deep, lilac purple, that was polished to a shine and gleamed in the morning sunlight.

You know those cars that have a design on their doors and fenders and just about anywhere that's possible on the car? Well, this one had exactly that.

Except for the usual design, though, such as a flame or a lightning bolt, this one happened to be a..._a giant grape? Stretched plum?_ Luka wondered vaguely, _...No, it's an eggplant._ An eggplant. That was it. A dark fuchsia eggplant with a bright evergreen stem, proudly blinding the eyes of anyone that dared to see.

But that was nothing compared to the owner. Absolutely nothing.

* * *

"...I mean, who in the world would have bright purple hair the same color as their car?" Luka mumbled to the ever-patient Teto, scrubbing the front office's counter so hard that the paint nearly peeled off.

Teto looked faintly amused. "Your hair is bright pink and it's the same color of _your_ car." She placed a pale hand onto Luka's wrist, effectively stopping Luka's scrubbing, and showed her how to correctly scrub so that the paint would last at least a few ten more years or so.

Luka tugged at a strand of her said pink hair. "Yeah, but it doesn't have the design of eggplants on it."

"Eggplants." One of Teto's thin eyebrows arched up high, nearly disappearing into her hairline. "You said eggplants."

"You heard correctly."

Teto began pacing the room, caring no more about the paint of the front office. "I remember Gakuko saying something about eggplants on her cousin's car. And she said it was an outlandish purple, too."

"We have something in common," Luka said sarcastically. "Gakuko and I."

A smile slipped onto Teto's face. "You might want to meet Gakuko. She's not the rich, troubled teenager you think she is. I'm pretty sure that Gakuko's cousin and your eggplant-car-owner is the same person. In fact, since you think the owner of the car is so sexy, you can maybe even coax some information about him from Gakuko."

Luka flushed a hot red. "I do _not_ think he is sexy."

"Oh, don't lie, Luka," Teto winked; "I know you better than you think I do."

* * *

It was hard to believe Teto's words about Gakuko when Luka arrived at Gakuko's home. It was practically a palace, having about six stories, a ton of rooms, a large garden, a huge backyard that was filled with all kinds of herbs and flowers and trees imaginable, and an exquisitely designed balcony overlooking the bay. It _was_ easy, however, to think that Gakuko was a rich, troubled teenager like Luka already thought of her as.

At that moment, a sudden scream burst out from one of its rooms, making its curtains fly. Not know what it was, Luka paused and kept staring up at that big mansion.

Then came the thudding of footsteps. They were so loud that even Luka could hear them; like an entire army was going to stampede. And wisps of yells came back at Luka: "GAKUKO-SAMA! HOLD ON ONE SECOND! YOUR PANTIES ARE NOT STOLEN!"

It was then that Luka chose the moment to leave.

* * *

"If you're not asking Gakuko for help, then who will you ask?" Teto asked, leaning against the counter of the table and staring up into Luka's eyes.

"No one." Luka shrugged. "He's a nobody to me, I'm a nobody to him."

"You know," Teto began, "I think that my cousin Momo can help you a bit with that...I mean, you're a crushable woman and all - "

Luka's face flamed red yet again. "Shut _up_, Teto."

Teto winked. "I'm giving you suggestions. I have a feeling that you two would make a wonderful couple. Anyway, I think I'm already obsessed with the subject. Try to prove me wrong, and I'll stop with it."

* * *

It was a mission.

Luka had stomped out of the building in which she and Teto worked, and had started up her old, battered pink convertible. Now driving again, it gave Luka a little time to think.

Seriously, she wasn't sure why Teto wanted so much to get that guy and her together. He was simply someone who was weird, that was all, and she just happened to take note of him on a Saturday. No big deal. Nothing at all.

But as Luka swerved sharply around a turn, honks ringing in her ears, she wondered if Teto had a motive under her cheerful self.

* * *

**_IMPORTANT: _I'm going to this in the next chapter. Might do good for a spin-off. **


	7. The Unexpected: Part Two

**_READ: _And continued from the last chapter. :) The spacing between the events is kind of hard, and I have a hard time managing my comma use. Ah well, enjoy anyway. ^_^**

* * *

"Gakupo, this is Luka. Luka, this is Gakupo."

Luka smiled awkwardly at the purple-haired young man who lounged on the couch, who was nodding absently. A redhead, who claimed to be Teto's cousin, happened to be introducing them to each other (Teto's orders). Luka's feet felt like they were glued to the ground; either that, or her legs were paralyzed. She wanted to move toward and away from him the same time, but to her everlasting dismay she couldn't do so.

The girl, whose name, Luka learned, was Momo Momone, looked from Luka to Gakupo, as if expecting something big coming from either of their mouths. Luka kept her mouth clamped tightly shut, and she stole a few glances at Gakupo.

He still had, as she remembered, his outlandish purple hair, but to her it seemed another shade than it was on the day she first saw him. Shining sapphire eyes bore into her own cerulean eyes, as if searching for something deep within her; _Eyes are the windows to a soul_, Luka thought, the quote popping into her mind just then. She studied his features.

He had - Luka felt ridiculous thinking this - a perfect nose. And then her eyes zeroed in on...

The feature that she was staring at for the longest time was the lips.

They were light pink, and smoother than the texture of a perfectly sculpted glass vase. Due to the fact that they were parted slightly, she could see a bit of...was that his tongue? underneath. They seemed to lure her in, drawing her virginity out of her body -

_Stop, Luka! You swore that you'd be a maiden until the end of Earth!_

But she found herself licking her own chapped lips. It only took a few moments for her to notice this, and she quickly jerked her tongue back in, nearly biting it off in the process.

Opting desperately for anything to look at except his mouth, Luka's gaze traveled down and her eyes took note of his shirt. It was a body-hugging, low-cut T-shirt that attracted her attention immediately. The bottom happened to be a bit small for him, and came down a bit above his belly button, giving her a clear view of his toned stomach...

"What's your occupation?" Luka asked abruptly, tearing her gaze away from his body and looking elsewhere.

He responded in a tone smooth but soft. "I'm surprised you didn't hear of my stories. Well, that said, I'm a successful wri -"

"_Highly_ successful," Momo interrupted. Luka had forgotten she was still in the room.

"Yes, highly successful writer," and a slow grin spread across his face, "I gave you enough time to check me out, yes?"

Immediately Luka's cheeks rebelliously broke away from her brain's commands, and flared about three shades of red. "I...I didn't..." She couldn't think of an objection in time, because she _was,_ in fact, "checking him out", like he so nicely said.

Before Luka could get another word out, Momo grabbed her wrist. "Teto told me to give you a full tour of this place. It's huge! Come on, let's visit Tsu-chan first. Gaku-sama, want to come along?"

Gakupo got up and stretched. "I might as well, since I don't have anything good to do here..." Luka couldn't help but notice the seamless movement that seemed to be buried deep in him. She blushed even deeper, and vowed to not look at him for the rest of the day.

* * *

A black-haired man who was no more older than twenty sat hunched over a project that looked suspiciously like a mass of wires. He was grumbling to himself about something about electric currents, and only looked up when Momo cleared her throat rather loudly.

"Oh, hi, Gakupo-sama. Hi, uh...miss."

"Her name is Luka," Momo explained. "This is Tsubame, Luka. Say hi, Tsu-chan."

"I already did," he muttered, using a wrench to cut one of the wires.

"Uh...I don't think you should do that -" Luka began, but was cut short by a buzz and a crackle.

Immediately the room was lit up with a strange bluish-white light. Luka caught a surprised look on Tsubame's face as he stared at his wires. Breaking her vow, she glanced over at Gakupo and saw him with the same startled look, but a grin soon replaced that. Momo just looked confused.

"AWESOME!" Tsubame screamed, jumping up and throwing the wires into the air. "I just found a new type of electric current!"

"Uh...okay, Tsu-chan," Momo mumbled. Then she looked from Luka to Gakupo. "Continue? I say we continue."

* * *

"Momone, I get the distinct feeling that you're leading us to the kitchen," Gakupo commented, sniffing the air. Momo gave him a jerk on the arm, sending him tumbling forward.

"It _is_ the kitchen, sir," she responded with a wink. "I figured Luka might want to meet one of my friends..."

"Lily," Gakupo said immediately.

"What?" Luka blinked.

"Yeah, Luka. Gaku-sama guessed correctly. Her name is Lily and she's from the Americas. I think you'll like her, since she has a similar personality to Teto's." Momo stopped in front of a door, and tugged on it hard, but it would not open. Gakupo put his hand onto hers and wrenched his hand the other way Momo was going, and the door swept open, revealing people in white speeding back and forth in a blur.

"Welcome to the kitchen," Momo announced.

* * *

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lu...Lu..."

"Luka," Luka responded. "It's nice to meet you too." She shook Lily's outstretched hand, wondering if the girl had problems.

"Right." The blond smiled, revealing a mouth full of crooked teeth. "Anyway, Luka, do you _know_ how pushy chefs are? They require a perfectly starched tablecloth with exactly three roses in a crystal vase in the middle of the table, with exactly seven leaves each."

"Uh, I'm sure that's interesting," Luka stammered.

And did you know that the leaves had to have an exact number of little jagged edges? And did you know how much lace the tablecloth has to have? And did you know that the chairs had to be woven by special stuff? And did you know -"

"I'm sure that's enough, Lily," Gakupo interrupted. He cracked a forced smile. "I think Luka knows how mean chefs are now."

Lily waved a hand dramatically. "Oh, Gakupo-sama, you're too kind. But Luka _doesn't_, you know? She's still naive to a lot of things, like the bushes in the garden, because the gardener wants exactly one hundred thirty-three branches in each bush - "

"Yes, that," Gakupo interrupted. "I think we'll be moving on now, won't we, Momone?" Luka caught a pleading look in his eyes as he turned to Momo.

Momo looked at him in dismay. "But surely Gaku-sama would want to exchange a few more words with Lily?"

"That's exactly right," Lily broke in. "You know the tables back there? The wood had to be varnished five times, each coat one millimeter thick exactly and it must be very smooth. And also, Gakupo-sama, did you know that that nightlight's lightbulb that you used had to be exactly 52 watts? I was the one who provided that. Also, the binder that you write your ideas in had to have a special plastic - "

"I would _love_ to hear more," Gakupo said quickly, "but we _really_ need to get a move on here. I'll hear your woes about the special plastic another time, I really will. Ahaha, now, Momone, let's go visit someone else..."

Momo still looked a bit distressed at Gakupo's quick brush-off of her friend, but she nonetheless agreed. "See you at dinnertime, okay, Lily?"

Lily nodded. "Right! And by then, exactly three dishes will be prepared for Gakupo-sama with one-teaspoonful of spices in each with some eggplants and grapes as a side - " Before she could finish, the kitchen door swung shut in her face, and Gakupo breathed a clear sigh of relief.

* * *

_Over the few weeks and months that passed, Gakupo and Luka grew closer and closer. Luka's visits became a routine, and both looked forward to seeing each other._

_Tsubame had just asked Gakupo for the permission to post his picture onto the internet for an o-miai. Gakupo declined, but then Tsubame insisted that if Gakupo wasn't going to have an o-miai, then he must have a sweetheart. Tsubame just wanted to send Gakupo's grandmother, Gakuko, a picture of them together - or an o-miai picture (she had been worrying that he was getting old soon, and would lose the ability to attract girls), so Gakupo finally agreed.  
_

_So the next Saturday, when Luka visited, he hinted it. She declined without even knowing what it was.  
_

_Same with the next Saturday...and the next.  
_

_Finally, he stopped hinting and decided just to tell her the truth, and throw in some of his seductive habits.  
_

_Now, to the present...  
_

* * *

"So, you want to be filmed?" He winked, sending Luka's hand flying to her face. She was sure that she felt a hot blush begin to slide on. Him, lounging on the couch casually, his manicured fingernails glinting in the sunlight...it was almost too much for her. Luka was wordless.

He arched a perfect eyebrow. "I'd take that as a yes. See you next Saturday, then." He winked, and swept out of the room, leaving a faint scent of grapes and eggplants in his wake.

* * *

So that was why it was perfectly a logical explanation why Gakupo and Luka were on top of each other. Actually, Gakupo was sitting up, leaning up against an armrest while fingering the luscious pink hair, belonging to the lady named Luka who lay on top of him. There was a camera in the room, nothing else. The (soon-to-be) couple were left in peace, other than the presence of a few remotes in the room, which was used for manipulating the camera.

Mostly, they had a good day there, other than a few unwanted guests.

There was the unsuspecting Momo Momone, cousin of Teto and sister of Miki, who trod upon them when she was "delivering biscuits for Gakuko-sama", she excused herself with. That was because Gakupo's cousin had come to visit for a day.

Tsubame Utanomiyatsuko, who came to see if the camera was in working order, was a bit ruffled by the sight but nonetheless winked and let the couple continue what they were doing, promising to tell no one.

A certain blonde maid named Lily insisted that she was just there to see if that "dreaded bastard Uta-something even fixed the camera or not".

And of course, it came as an utterly drastic surprise for Miku, who was trying to find Luka to give her the leeks she owed to her.

But other than that...Luka and Gakupo were happy to announce their relationship to the world.

* * *

**I wanted to try my hand at dry humor, and the paragraphs at the end was kinda like an epilogue for the chapter. XD I'm a bit busy with my (unpublished) GakuRin story, so I might not post as often...and of course, I have trouble dreaming up ideas and my "drabbles" always turn out rather long. I also want to make a spin-off off of this. Maybe I will, someday. :9 I am totally inspired to. Actually, I'm surprised that I didn't make all of these fanfictions separate stories...  
**

**But thank you for reading. :D  
**

**~Unyielding Wish**


	8. Concert Night

**_PLEASE READ: _I'm taking this from my story "Oh, the Regret". Little snippets of GakuLuka are in there if you're willing to catch them. I'm putting them together... I changed some of it in there because it wouldn't quite make sense unless you actually read it. (Read "Oh, the Regret" I mean.)**

**Frankly, I'm having writer's block recently on this. Oh well.  
**

* * *

Another crumpled piece of paper landed into the trash bin. Luka leaned over her work, banging her fist on the table in frustration as she dug into her mind for some new lyrics to replace the sucky ones with. So far, it was not working. She _needed_ to finish this song…After all, Miku was her competition and she was pretty much done with her own already. Luka had to prove to Master that she, too, was good enough to become a Vocaloid.

"Ah, dammit!" Luka's scream tore through the air as she ripped the piece of binder paper. Paper shreds fell all around her, as some kind of confetti. Feeling slightly calmer, she picked up the pencil yet again and grabbed another piece of paper from the pile that loomed in front of her.

A purple-haired young man entered the room, an amused smile playing at his lips. "No luck?"

Luka elbowed him, hard. "Go away," she said through gritted teeth. She didn't—correction: _did **not**_—like Gakupo's pity on her. No, Luka was a woman who lived with pride and strength, and despised being a damsel in distress; or acting like one, that is.

"Hey, I'm only trying to help you here." Gakupo leaned over her shoulder and read the lyrics:

_Sakura, white emotion that dyed the path where it blizzards_

_The drama that adds color and draws, along with—  
_

"Owwwww."

"Stop looking," Luka snapped and cast him an accusing gaze. "It's none of your business."

He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, don't elbow me like that."

Luka only sighed and turned back to her work. "Stupid song…" she muttered under her breath, scrawling down a few more lyrics. Soon enough, she met another obstacle. With a low-pitched groan escaping her lips—she didn't even know she could manage that sound—Luka stretched, and nearly whacked Gakupo in the face with her paper.

Gakupo shied away just in time, and looked back at the paper which Luka had dropped back onto the desk. "What do you plan on calling it, anyway?"

"I don't know." Luka had evidently succumbed to Gakupo's persistence. "Something related to cherry blossoms…"

"What about Cherry Blossom Delight?"

"You—" Luka shoved her chair into the desk and raised the paper menacingly. "–eggplant head—" She dropped her arm back at her side. "Too cheerful," she resigned.

"Sakura Rice Cake?"

"Same thing."

"Oh, I know! The Beauty of Sakura in the Spring!"

"Too long. It has to be catchy, but have a manly theme to it." Luka rubbed her forehead. "Maybe 'Singing Blossoms', but that sounds too girly…and not quite right…I was thinking of, well, this thick fuse and someone's reminiscing while looking at it, something like that."

"What do you think then?" asked an amused Gakupo.

Luka directed her glare at him. "I don't know! Look, I really appreciate your help here, but this—" she waved the paper around "—this is just stupid! You're not giving any useful titles, I have writer's block, and the word 'Graffiti' keeps popping in my head, I'm not sure why! And I have a feeling it's supposed to be related to all of this, but I don't see the connection yet, so this entire damn thing is fucked up and no I am not afraid to swear!"

Gakupo watched her, an interest in his eyes. "Graffiti," he mused.

"Yeah, and I keep thinking of this tall wall with a bunch of red bubble letters that spell 'SAKURA' spray-painted on it." Luka laughed coarsely.

"Why don't you…What about something related to 'sakura' and 'graffiti'?" Gakupo suggested.

Luka sat there for a while, trying it out silently on her tongue. _"Sakura" and "graffiti"?_ _It doesn't soun__d half-bad. And aren't I talking about pretty much everything coated with blossoms or something? Graffiti sounds like—_ "Got it!" Luka screamed, making a desperate snatch for her pen but missing and grabbing Gakupo's cheek instead.

"Oops," Gakupo said, laughing awkwardly. His cheek had a red mark where she accidentally pinched.

Luka recoiled slightly, mostly from embarrassment. A blush tainted her cheeks. "A–a–at least you can do better than that," she mumbled, shifting herself slightly away from him, and turning her face away so that he wouldn't see the pink on her cheeks that matched her hair.

"I don't know about that," Gakupo said. "Anyway, what were you going to write?"

"Y–yes…" Luka carefully picked up her pen from its resting spot and wrote in large letters at the top of the page: _'Sakura Graffiti'._

" 'Sakura Graffiti' ?" Gakupo asked.

"Hey…" Luka crossed her arms in front of her chest. "If you think that you can do something better, then shoot for it," she challenged. "This is the greatest I can go."

Gakupo raised both hands in surrender. "I wasn't going to say that I could do _better_. I was just…I was just making sure," he mumbled.

"Ookay." Luka raised an eyebrow, jotted down the rest of the lyrics, and began revising the rough draft.

* * *

"This is performance night and I dare you to wish me well." Luka folded her arms over her ample cleavage. She was wearing a black dress similar to what she usually wore, but different. It was rather revealing, with only two thin black strips of cloth covering her bust, but it was elegant and its finely woven black fabric fell artfully to the floor, perfectly scalloped and would swish around her legs with every step she took. There was a silver choker around Luka's neck and she wore lacy black boots.

Gakupo gazed at her in amusement. "I wish you well," he answered. He was wearing a simple black body-hugging long-sleeved shirt and jeans. Luka noticed that he had painted his nails another shade of purple, but this purple was closer to pink. A thought flashed through her mind, wondering what that could mean, but she quickly brushed it off.

"Anyway, I'll be singing 'Sakura Graffiti'."

"I wish you luck."

"And since I suck at making lyrics, I think I'll get booed off the stage."

"I confine to you my utmost trust and intelligence that nobody would do that. And besides, while people are saying 'boo', I'll still be cheering for you."

"That's great to know." Luka managed a thin-lipped sarcastic smile, thinking that she knew full-well the idiot wouldn't be actually cheering for her—or would he? But nonetheless…

"Thanks," Gakupo replied, returning her smile.

Luka placed her hands around her slim waist. She simply looked anxiously into his eyes, a gesture she did that surprised even herself. "Just…while I'm up there, don't do anything drastically stupid, okay? Because I can't bear having you…" _…on top of another girl_, she silently told herself, but did not voice aloud. "Because I can't bear having you…spilling your drink over anything," Luka mumbled lamely.

Gakupo looked at her in a way that made his gaze almost penetrating, seeing her very innermost thoughts. "Oh…well," he said, cocking an eyebrow. "We'll just have to see, won't we?"

"Don't get all cocky on me!"

"I'm not!"

"Well, the show's starting. Goodbye."

"AAAAAWWWWW—" Gakupo whined. "I thought you said you'd wait for me when you were done!"

Luka rolled her eyes. He was never going to get what she meant when she said "Goodbye"—she meant 'see you', but it felt awkward voicing that to Gakupo, so that was what she put in the place of it. "Okay…_aaaaanyway,_ I have to go now."

"Okay! I won't do anything stupid, I promise~!"

* * *

_Seikaaaaaite…_

Miku began her lyrics in her beautifully high-pitched, girly voice, sure that she would win. "World is Mine" was one of her greatest pieces, anyway.

But when Luka stepped up to sing, the crowd hushed, completely silent, every single pair of eyes on the pinkette while she sang out "Sakura Graffiti".

* * *

_Responses to "Sakura Graffiti":_

"YOU DID GREAT!" Meiko screamed, tackling Luka. Her cheeks were flushed from an overload of intake of alcohol, but yet she seemed to still be able to function properly. "I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW CUTE YOU WERE WHEN YOU WERE UP THERE~ I COULD HAVE JUST LICKED YOUR BOOBS~"

.

"That was so beautiful!" Gumi cried. "Can you teach me how you sung like that?"

.

"At least you have boobs at all," Rin complained. "I'm a flatchest." Len's comment was more encouraging and happy: "Nice job! Why did you croak out the last part?"

.

"YOUR AWESOME PERFORMANCE MADE ME THINK OF ICE CREAM AND ROOT BEER FLOATS~ YOUR HAIR WAS SO CREAMY IN THE LIGHTS~ YOU DANCED SO WELL~ YOUR BOOBS JIGGLED JUST AT THE RIGHT MOMENT~ YOU HAVE SUCH A BEAUTIFULLY TINY, DAINTY WAIST AND SUCH WIDE HIPS~ CAN I FUCK YOU?" Kaito was on his knees, begging.

.

"Congratulations," Miku said coldly.

.

But what Luka cherished most was Gakupo's comment. He came up, last of all the Vocaloids, and just gave her a big smile that warmed her heart. "That was a great song," he whispered in her ear, and pecked her on the cheek.

* * *

Later, on the drive home, Luka was kind of drowsy so Gakupo let her lean on his lap while he was driving back—"Because you're too tired," he excused himself with. It was rather quiet on the road; only the sound of the car wheels crunching gravel and the car's engine whirring. Luka was just about to fall asleep at a long red light when a thought suddenly jolted her awake.

"Right, I forgot about…" she mumbled.

Gakupo turned toward her, raising an eyebrow. "Forgot about…?" he repeated, not caring whether the red light changed to green or not. (It didn't. Yet.)

Luka raised her head a bit so Gakupo could see her aquamarine eyes. "You broke the rules."

Gakupo's eyebrow disappeared into his hairline. "The rules."

"Yeah…" _What is up with_ _me? _Luka wondered. _I'm gr__inning like the Cheshire Cat…_ "Because you kissed me. You weren't supposed to, actually…"

Gakupo's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "Whaaaat?"

Luka pushed herself up, propping her chin on her elbows, which dug into Gakupo's thighs. _Stupid seatbelt._ "You know, you should have done something much more demure than that. Now Gumi's going to be in a competition with me…but I don't actually care." She got up and leaned forward.

Gakupo bit his lip when he realized what he thought Luka was about to do. _Slap me across the face, probably… _But instead, her lips pressed against his own.

"Arg, that kiss was so dry." Luka leaned back, but was still grinning. "I think you'd better go now," she added, gesturing toward the light which had probably turned green eons ago. Gakupo was still kind of numb from the kiss, and only snapped out of his trance when there was a vicious honk behind them.

* * *

_Later, in the Vocaloid house, 10:00 p.m.…_

A sliver of golden light landed into Luka's already-darkened room, and a long-haired man stepped into it, creating a queer shadow in the light. He walked over to Luka's bed and fitted some black cat ears on her head before kissing her.

"Good night, Luka. You look even cuter with cat-ears…"

* * *

**Lolololol done. Maybe I'll do a continuation of this fic in the next chapter. I enjoy doing this now. :D**

**But in fact, I'm starting to add humor in here. I wonder why...  
**

**Please R&R!  
**

**~Unyielding Wish  
**


	9. Legacy of Cat Ears

**Alright, this contains references from "Overrated Average" by Ten-Faced. I just hope that she wouldn't get mad at me for using her idea about Rin's back. Of course, if she wants me to, I can and will take the thing about Rin's back off of this story. Or maybe just take this story off. Well, it's continued from the last chapter. It's not exactly dependent on the other chapter—it's kind of different entirely. But still. Yeah.  
**

* * *

_Beep, beep._

The incessant little noise rang in Luka's ears, succeeding in giving her the utmost annoyance. She squirmed in the bed, only to find out that her limbs ached all over. Luka lay there for a few moments, wondering why her arms and legs hurt, and then the sudden memory of singing onstage popped into her mind.

_Oh, right._

Luka's hand shot out and shut off the beeping, and a tired little smile surfaced on her face as she squeezed her dark pink Tako Luka plushie. Slowly she curled up again. _That concert last night was a blast… _She chuckled as she remembered Miku's face.

No wonder her limbs hurt. She must have exercised them too much last night when she was doing those yoga stretches. Screw yoga. It didn't even work, and now she ended up with aching muscles.

_Well…at least it must have helped with improving my flexibility._

Luka sat up and yawned, stretching and massaging her upper arms. Suddenly she felt a strange pinching behind her ears—it didn't quite throb, and it didn't quite emit a sharp pain. It just felt, in a way…_sore._ Not like her muscles. In another way entirely…Confused, Luka reached behind her ears, and felt this velvety stuff.

Huh.

Luka's fingers went on. She felt like an utter idiot standing there, touching this stuff on her head, but that didn't matter because her fingers hit ridges. Like when you sew, especially sewing thick stuff, you leave ridges.

The ridges broke away to some soft, velvety thing that went up. It was kind of less harder than the thing that it was apparently riding on, and sort of bent at her touch. One side was silky satin, and the other was velvet. Perplexed at what this was, Luka gave up trying to tell by touch and went to the mirror.

_What the_—

Who the #$%^ put cat ears on her head?

Not waiting to think for an answer to her question, Luka stormed out of her room, down the hallway…and rapped on Gakupo's door.

* * *

A sapphire eye opened lazily, like a cat's while it was busily enjoying the sunshine. There was a ringing in his head—he wasn't sure why. He opened his other eye, and after a few moments, his vision cleared up. Blinking, he sat up and stretched, hearing a faint _crrrrrraaack_ that satisfied him in a strange way.

Then he figured out what the ringing was. A woman's beautiful voice, the knocking on his door, the same woman's voice which was, in the present, rather harsh, and the blood pounding in his ears.

It took some time for Gakupo to remember proper etiquette is to answer the door when it's knocked upon.

Not bothering to slide on a shirt, he hopped out of bed, expecting someone like Rin at the door, yelling at him to tell her and Len a story. Thus, he met a surprise when he opened the door.

A pinkette with black cat ears perched atop her head stood standing there, with crossed arms and an overly pissed look. Her lacy white nightgown swished around her ankles as a gentle breeze blew in. Gakupo simply stood there, his eyes bulging out, not sure what to make of this sudden visit Luka was paying him—what was she going to do?

"Damnit, you…" Luka mumbled, stepping forward and leaning in.

His heart hammered as he realized what she was probably going to do next. "L–Luka…"

But instead of the gentle kiss Gakupo expected on receiving, he earned a slap on the face and a red mark on his cheek instead. Just the opposite what happened on the car ride.

"KAMUI FUCKING GAKUPO, GO PUT ON YOUR FUCKING CLOTHES, GODDAMNIT!"

* * *

"Seriously, what's happened between you two?" Meiko glanced over from Gakupo, who was grinning sheepishly, and Luka, who was smiling forcibly. "It's like suddenly that night you two were acting all lovey-dovey and then today _you_"—Meiko pointed her spatula at Luka—"have turned into Ice Queen, and _you_"—cue the kitchen tool being thrust in Gakupo's face—"have turned into The Nonstop-Nervous Kamui."

"Yeah, I forgot," Luka mumbled.

"Those cat ears did look good on you though," Gakupo sighed.

"Well, I trashed them."  
"You know, if you just kept them…"

"Angels will come down from heaven and fit a pair of wings on my back, yeah, I've heard that before," Luka replied softly.

Meiko, Miku, Rin, Len, Kaito, and Gumi looked at each other, puzzled. Rin gestured for an emergency meeting between the six, and when they all leaned in (Gakupo and Luka were oblivious to this), Rin whispered, "I'm on the case."

Len raised his hand. "Me too."

"Catching them on a videotape would be so fun…" Gumi sighed. "I get to tease Aniki with it…"

Miku shrugged indifferently, and Kaito only nodded, but Rin knew what they felt. And Meiko…a devilish grin lit Meiko's face. "I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

The moment Gakupo finished his breakfast, Luka put down her fork and pushed him to somewhere. Rin and Len glanced at each other; Rin placed a finger on her lips and mouthed, "Follow them." The six Vocaloids followed the two other ones to Gakupo's room. A smirk crawled up the side of Miku's face.

"I get to see them first, because I'm the best Vocaloid."  
"I'm _sure_ they won't bruise your innocence, Miku. Gakupo'll be a good boy and wear protection," Rin said sarcastically, as Meiko nodded.  
"I want to see their baby, Meiko. And Rin. Don't get in the way."  
"Only because you can film it, Gumi."

As Miku, Meiko, Rin, and Gumi argued, Kaito took the moment to shove both Rin and Len forward, toward Gakupo's bedroom. "Hurry up and tell us what you two see!" he whispered.

* * *

Luka plopped down on Gakupo's bed, unaware of the twin spies hiding behind the door. "Ah, keeping up our reputations as single is hard. Especially after I wrote 'Go Google It'."

Gakupo was laughing. "Well, it's your own fault for priding yourself on being a virgin."

Luka turned and glared at him. "Like you want to keep me that way."

"Oh, I don't."

_Behind the door~_

"God, Rin, stop laughing," Len whispered urgently as he elbowed his silently-laughing sister, who was clutching her stomach, tears leaking out of her eyes. "You'll be found out."

"I _am_ being quiet." Rin took another glance from the crack on the side of the door, and burst into fresh fits of mirth. "Man, those two are hilarious. Making out on the bed, really? With such a door that's easy to spy through? I love them…" She squeezed her eyes shut, and tears streamed down her face.

"Meiko was wrong about wearing protection," Len whispered. "I expect Luka to have a baby ten months from now."

"I'll name it GakuLuka."

" 'RinLen' is a better name."

"Save it for your incest with Lenka."

"Rin!" Len whisper-shouted, tackling his twin. "You _know_ I wouldn't make love with my own innocent genderbend!"

"Kaito already did it with Kaiko," Rin replied, grinning. "So what's the problem. Oh, owwww…"

Len immediately leapt off of her. "Are you okay, Rin?" he asked anxiously.

Rin nodded. "It's just that I need to crack my back a bit…"

"Well, you'll miss out on all of the fun…And maybe Gakupo won't be, you know, _doing that_ at all!" Len said quietly (for he, you know, was a good boy who never swore). "You know, I heard somewhere that—"

_*crack*_

Len squeezed his eyes shut and looked at the couple again, just to see Luka's body jolt, and then relax as she smiled breathlessly.

"How the heck is this possible?"

* * *

**"OVERRATED AVERAGE" BY TEN-FACED REFERENCE! Ugh, I didn't alert her earlier about this...Sorry, this oneshot thingy was badly composed. Maybe I should write one on Luka having a baby...Remember, this story is composed of a bunch of GakuLuka oneshots/two-chapter fics. And it's completely timeless—one fic can center around them being children and another when they're 60 years old. XD  
**

**_20 Jan 2013!edit: _Alright, changed somethings because it was MA-rated content. Thanx.  
**

**~Unyielding Wish**


	10. July Fourth

**This one's for Independence Day, yes? Also, this story is AU, just a reminder. So even though they don't technically have Tokyo, San Fransisco, that kind of thing, they still celebrate close to the same holidays as we do...  
**

**Oh yeah, and Gakupo is 14 and Luka is 5 in this chapter.** **Also, they are related in this chapter.  
**

* * *

A small, timid hand, chubby from baby fat, grasped hold of a crudely made red-, white-, and blue-striped toy rocket with red, white, and blue streamers taped to one side. Joyful laughter bubbled in the child's throat as she ran from room to room, heedless of tripping, showcasing her homemade "fireworks".

Dusk was falling, and soon it would be time for the real fireworks to explode in the night sky. She was looking forward toward this.

The girl paused in front of the shoji screen of her older brother's. She could see his shadow through the screen, reading some book that he deemed as interesting. She opened her mouth to speak, but her older brother's deeper voice sounded through the screen.

"I know you're there, Luka," with an edge of amusement.

Luka sighed in frustration and slid open the door, her eyes falling upon her purple-haired brother as he turned another page in his book. Feeling the five-year-old's stare on him, he looked up from the book, raising his eye at her crossed arms and downturned lips. Why was Luka in a bad mood?

"You messed ith up, Gakupo," she said.

Gakupo ran a hand through his long purple hair, his eyebrow still cocked. "Messed what up?"

"I was going thoo surprise you." Luka's hands were firmly clenched behind her back. From the way she was standing, Gakupo could catch a peek of a red, white, and blue, and supposed it be the flag that she was making in daycare the other day.

"Let me guess…" Gakupo squeezed his eyes shut, in a manner that always pleased little children. He opened them. "Is it a flag?"

Luka grinned, and shook her head.

"Oh?"

She shook her head again, happy that for once her all-knowing brother had not known what this is.

"What is it?" Gakupo put down his book, his interest now piqued by the object that Luka was holding behind her back.

"THA-DA!" Luka pulled the cardboard rocket from her back and displayed it open her palm. "You didn'th know whath ith was!" she said triumphantly.

"I do now. A rocket, right?" Gakupo smiled briefly, out of amusement for his little sister. How innocent she was, so many dark secrets of the world she did not know. Gakupo would've liked it like this, but Life would have their own plans for Luka. Nonetheless, he was brought back from the world of his thoughts by Luka's childish, sweet voice.

"No fair, you guessed ith."

Gakupo laughed and reached out to ruffle the little girl's hair. "Now, is that what you wanted to show me?"

Luka shook her head, a suddenly anxious pout ascending her face. "I wanthed thoo ask you a questhion."

"And that would be…?"

"Can you thake me thoo the firework display?" she asked hopefully.

"Hmmm." Gakupo pretended to think about it, teasing his little sister. Gazing at her in a way that was almost playful, he rubbed his chin. Luka caught on to what he was doing, and gave him a little push.

"Gakuuupooo!" she whined.

"Alright, alright." Gakupo patted her head.

* * *

Luka's aquamarine eyes were wide as they concentrated on the exploding fireworks. The _bangs_ came in harmony with the song that was playing in the background—

_Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light **(bang!)**  
_

_What we so proudly held **(bang!)** at the twilight's last gleaming?  
_

_Whose broad stripes and bright stars,  
_

_Through the **(bang!)** perilous fight, over the ramparts we watched **(bang!)**  
_

_Were so gallantly streaming?…  
_

Luka's little hand squeezed his, and Gakupo lifted her onto his shoulders for her to get a better view of the fireworks. The pink fireworks of a tuna were just exploding; joyous laughter escaped her mouth as she made grabs at the tuna. "_Maguro, maguro!_" she cried, laughing, as Gakupo grinned up at the night sky.

It was a humid night, perfect for wearing tank tops and shorts but still be drenched in sweat. A bunch of people were huddled on different lawns, either fanning themselves or having a nice, long cool drink of something. Gakupo and Luka were having neither, but both were too excited to care. Luka's full, undivided attention was directed toward the night sky; Gakupo was simply happy to see her little round face full of a sunny smile.

Luka's sudden little arms clutching Gakupo's neck startled him. He looked down at the little girl, whose eyelids were drooping.

"Sleepy…" she mumbled.

_How could she be sleepy in all of this noise? _He looked at his watch; _Oh. It's eleven-thirty._

Nonetheless, Gakupo chuckled to himself and brought her back inside, where Kaiko and Luki, their parents, fussed over Luka and fanned her thoroughly even though Gakupo insisted that she was only sleepy. It was amusing to see their parents care so less for one moment and take so much notice in another.

* * *

A tired figure laid himself down to sleep next to a small child no older than five. When the visitor came in, she reached out and grabbed a clump of his purple hair, mumbling to herself in sleep. He laughed slightly and patted her cheek.

"Rest well, Luka."

* * *

**This was for Independence Day. :D I wanted to make it as cute as possible. Did I succeed? Only reviews will tell me~**

**~Unyielding Wish  
**


	11. For Your Birthday

**I FEEL SO GUILTY.  
**

**I have recently been untrue to my GakuLuka fics. Q~Q Too busy with LenxIroha.  
SO NOW, I SHALL PRESENT TO YOU-...  
**

**On with the story.  
**

* * *

With a soft _chink, _Luka gingerly lighted the candles. A gentle scent, reminiscent of raw tuna and grilled eggplant, drifted softly into the air. Luka counted again to make sure. Eighteen lighted candles, the candles of ivory color with various decorations carved and molded upon it—an eggplant poking out, a tuna carved in—and some other designs, such as an angle's wings and a sword.

Come _on,_ she shouldn't be crying.

It was his birthday, after all.

But Luka blinked back tears as she stared at the cake. Not because of its perfection—a result of her baking. Not because of happiness. Because of…well, sadness. Loss and sadness.

_How long have we been together?_

_Since when did we meet?  
_

_The times we've shared…  
_

The candles' bright glows distracted her from reality. The world around her disintegrated, and Luka sunk into memories made of long ago, precious as a silvery bell's sound and tough as the stringy, strong tendons threading through her entire body.

In one of the candles' reflections, she saw a shy pinkette hand a surprised purplehead a fistful of pink and purple flowers.

In the next, she saw the same girl be presented with a fish in a store by the grubby hands of the boy, the owner of the store chasing the sheepish purple-haired.

And the next. She hopped onto the boy's bike, and they rode into the sunset, laughing and talking.

And then they were watching a movie of two chairs. He'd said it was boring, but she had thought it was rather interesting.

Then she cut herself with a piece of shattered glass; he'd bandaged it.

A bright red rose's petals strewn across the floor, the girl giggling as she kissed him.

They threw paper planes into the sky, watching as the folded paper was carried away by the strong wind.

New Year's Eve, and they were sharing a smoothie together even though it was so cold, the light illuminating her blushing face.

Playing the guitar.

Tickling and teasing each other.

The girl getting mad because of the mess in the kitchen.

Karaoke.

Playing with the hose.

Building a snowman.

Messing around with the leaves in the backyard. She'd been surprised nobody had been hurt, since the rake was nearby too.

Reading a mushy romance book together.

Making a wish under mistletoe.

Watching the cherry blossoms fall, one by one, onto the ground. He picked one up and stuck it into her hair; she squealed and pointed out that it had already fallen in the mud, and he laughed because of his mistake.

The tears came out hard now, and Luka struggled to keep them back in. The eighteen candles came back into view. _If it was my birthday…_ There were plenty of wishes to consider. But now, today…it was his. His chance to make his own wishes, to choose his own path. _How much times have I wished for us to be together until the end of time?_ Luka had to force herself to be silent, because the inside her was screaming out.

There was a soft bang that signaled his coming home. Luka immediately wiped away her tears.

"Happy Birthday, Gakupo," she said quietly, stepping aside to let him see the cake she'd baked.

It was in the shape of a eggplant—rather small, but well done. Dark purple frosting and lime green gumdrops for the stem of the eggplant, because she couldn't find any green frosting, not even in Miku's store.

Gakupo only nodded wordlessly and got the plates and forks.

There were no birthday songs to be sang. All the songs were in their hearts, which were beating so loudly to the tunes that Luka was sure that Gakupo could detect the song thrumming inside, and she caught a forlorn note of Ai ga Tarinai.

A soft blow from Gakupo and all eighteen candles were extinguished. Luka thought she saw the sparkle of a teardrop on his eyelashes as his lips moved to his wish.

They ate the cake in silence.

Only until Luka laid down her fork softly did Gakupo speak. He reached across the table and brushed a chunk of light pink hair out of her aquamarine eyes.

"I'll miss you."

Those three words triggered another immediate rush of sadness. She gasped for air between her tears, and his forehead pressed against hers as he kissed her for the last time before having to get up for his train.

His train to college.

Luka would not see him for a year.  
Perhaps he would not choose to go home at all, and just finish his first year and take up a job.

"I'll miss you, too," Luka said in a small voice at the closed door.

* * *

***hides* DON'T KILL ME FOR DOING SOMETHING SAD! Especially you, Gaku... (I act like Vocaloids are real sometimes.) I just wrote this for Gakupo's birthday. A happy fic didn't come to me, so that's why I did this...  
**

**Anyway, a lot of the memories Luka had were in _Just be Friends_. Familiar much? ;) The rest of them, I made up. They harbor no particular meaning; Luka and Gakupo aren't really breaking up; I just wanted something to use, so I thought a few references to _Just be Friends_ would be enough. Of course, I don't own the song, neither do I own Vocaloid.  
**

**Hope everyone enjoyed it~! Review please!  
**

**~Unyielding Wish  
**


	12. Yes, I Missed You

**Back with another GakuLuka fic~! This one is different: It's set in Luka's POV. Well, enjoy!  
**

* * *

_Luka's point of view~_

Maple syrup was a wondrous thing. There was a soft, delightful taste that every eatable wished to have. When hardened it danced on the tip of one's tongue, the senses tingling at its slightly tart sweetness. When drank as it is, the smooth flow of syrup eased a sore mouth. Perhaps the most loved treat maple syrup was made into was maple taffy.

Years and years, without fail, during the winter the youngsters hurriedly trooped out with their fresh-boiled syrup and snowpans, doing it the old-fashioned way. They would dump some syrup onto the fresh snow, and as soon as it hardened, they'd eat it.

I was one of those eager young children.

Well, my old town in Japan wasn't exactly known for its maple syrup production, I can guess you're thinking. And it was not. Every winter, when my brother was still here, we would fly on a plane to Canada, or perhaps northeastern America, and mess around with it there.

It was winter now.

I peered out the window. The frost made patterns on the window glass. My breath made fog on the window glass. My cheek that was pressed against the pane was cold.

Often, I would think of him.

* * *

_"Gaku-nii!" I squealed, tearing across the field, flying straight into his arms. He had a job in a daycare near the park in which I always played; he grinned and ruffled my hair. I buried my head into his chest, breathing in a scent that was strictly his. Fresh lavenders mixed with cologne. I loved it._

_We weren't related by blood, exactly. We were both orphans, and over a time after getting used to him I began thinking about Gaku-nii as a brother.  
_

_He was kind and gentle, but really overprotective. Long purple-hair, piercing sapphire eyes. He had been the exact image of the brother I'd always wanted.  
_

_"Let's go back to the orphanage," he said then, smiling at me.  
_

* * *

_Gaku-nii bent over, eyes squeezed shut in pain. Sweat glistened on his forehead, arms—anywhere that was bare. Rivulets of blood ran down his back. The headmistress drew back her arm, whip still in hand. "Want me to go on?" she threatened him, muscles bulging in her forearm. For a moment, I could be sure that her eyes lingered on me. I cowered behind the boxes I was hiding, shaking.  
_

_I couldn't do anything.  
_

_I could only watch Gaku-nii get hurt.  
_

_"Gakupo," said the headmistress dangerously.  
_

_"Y-yes, ma'am?" he whispered.  
_

_Her eyes narrowed to a slit. "You…will…not…take…Luka…out…for…another…visit…outside. Understand?"  
_

_"Yes…yes, ma'am."  
_

_"Good. Now, scat, before I decide against my temporary kindness and whip you more." Hearing that, Gaku-nii quickly scurried out of the room, and the headmistress turned to me. Her look told me to go away, too, before she chose to give me even harsher treatment.  
_

* * *

_"Gaku-nii, where are you going?"  
_

_He had a backpack slung over his shoulder. Forlorn sapphire eyes, years older than his age was. Much, much older than eighteen. In his hand he clutched some money, and a crumpled letter. He turned to smile grimly at me.  
_

_Ever since that incident with the headmistress five years ago, he'd always been rather withdrawn. The wounds the whip gave him had hardened into disfiguring scars on his back. I cringed every time I saw the pink-white gash, or perhaps it was a burnt brown. Either way, they were ugly, and I didn't like setting my eyes on even one. I was scared of them. They reminded me, every time, of the cruelty the rest of us might have to face.  
_

_"I'm going to be…" He shows me the letter.  
_

_"WHAT?"  
_

* * *

_It was real.  
_

_In my blur of tears I could barely see him.  
_

_He wore the soldier's uniform, a gray duffel bag. I could only stand there, with the other children, my feet nailed to the ground. The headmistress didn't look that happy either, but she nodded at him and he turned to the train.  
_

_"Goodbye, Luka," he whispered to me one last time before I was left in the dust.  
_

* * *

I was in Canada now.

Canadian soil was dry and iced-over in the winter, but maple trees covered the entire area on which I was standing. I could see a few children, running and laughing, eat homemade maple taffy. It hurt, with a pang in my heart, but it was nice to see so many other children having fun.

Gakupo should be twenty-three by now. I'm…I'm only eighteen.

Every year our orphanage allowed a brief vacation to somewhere, and I always used to choose Canada.

I could just quit living in the orphanage now. I'm old enough to go off working on my own. Earn some pay to support myself, perhaps marry faithlessly to that blue-haired young man I had just seen strolling around like he'd owned the place.

I kicked a gray rock as I walked along, hands deep in my pockets. I hadn't gone here ever since he'd left, which was a good five years. Back then, he would always ask for a place to stay, but I was shy. Way too shy, for my own sake. I swore up a storm under my breath so the children wouldn't hear it, but they did look at me with questioning looks on their faces. One of the children—a rather pretty blonde—grabbed her brother's hand and ran into the house.

They were scared of me.

They probably thought I was a madwoman.

I laughed humorlessly, strolling along the bank of a river. It was icy in this season, but I sat down at tapped my feet against the ice anyway.

"Dear," said a voice, and I looked up. It was a blonde lady with her hair held up in a ponytail. There were hard lines etched everywhere on her old, weather-beaten face, but there was kindness and wit in her honeybrown eyes. "You'd fall in if you're not careful. The ice might be strong, but it's thin." Behind her, the twins peeked out. "My twins told me about you; they say that you were looking lonely. Come on, to me you look like you're a visitor. You can share my home." When she smiled, it was like sunshine. "What's your name?"

"I'm Luka."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Neru Akita—I kept my maiden name after I married—and these are my children, Rin and Len Kagamine. Say hi, Rin, Len."

"Hi," said Rin.

"Hello," her brother echoed.

"Hello," I said, feeling a bit better.

"Well, why don't you come in! Rin and Len love hot chocolate, and I'm sure you do too."

* * *

A few days later, word reached us that soldiers were marching toward our area. Neru was seriously worried; she began pacing whichever room she was in whenever she had free time, mumbling to herself possible reasons. Rin and Len darted about, asking and collecting information (even though they didn't even know what it was about). And I was just hoping that Gakupo was one of the soldiers.

Of course, there was a very slim chance, but I still liked to dream about it time to time.

What should I say? What should I do? What if I got my hopes up for nothing? Should I wear anything fancy? Should I—

The questions I asked myself were overwhelming.

One night we sat down at the wooden table in the middle of the kitchen. Neru sighed and rubbed her temples. Rin and Len looked around, and I sat there awkwardly, not knowing what to do in an atmosphere like this. Finally, Neru spoke.

"Any soldier coming here is not a good sign."

I was puzzled. "Why not?"

Neru's head snapped up; she looked astonished. "Why, Luka! Soldiers are a symbol of war. If they come here, it means that they're either attacking or defending. They're soldiers from Japan, and I have mixed feelings about that country, so I can't really decide to think which way or the other." Neru rubbed her wrists, heating them up with friction. "Oh—I'm sorry, dear. You're from Japan, right?"

"Yeah…"

But what if they _were_ attacking? Gakupo might be part of them…and they're _attacking_? For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to think the thought…

"Let's get maple syrup!" Rin suddenly suggested, jumping up from her chair. Len nodded and hurried after her—those two kids were adorable. Len would follow what Rin said, and Rin would announce something that would be the decision for both of them. They were charming; a pleasurable break from seeing thin orphanage children tortured and insulted over and over again by the headmistress.

* * *

"They're coming! They're coming!" Rin reported the next day, an icy morning to begin with.

"What?" Neru stopped doing the wash and I stopped putting snow into pans for all the children around the neighborhood. We both turned to stare at Rin and Len.

"The soldiers! They're coming!" Rin was breathless with excitement. "I saw men in the soldier uniform, and they looked very…very…" She scrunched up her face, as if trying to find a good enough word.

"Nice," I suggested.

"Yeah, nice! They looked very nice in their uniform. They even saluted to me! There was this pink-haired guy who was leading them. The other soldiers called him 'Cap'n Yuuma'. Anyway, there was another soldier behind them with green hair. Greenish, I think, it's green-blue. And then Cap'n Yuuma called him 'Mikuo'. And then there was a guy behind them, his hair was pure green, and his name was 'Gumiya…'" Rin rattled off on and on, until I interrupted her with a question, my heart pounding hard in my chest as I recited every word.

"Was there a purple-haired man among them?"

Rin looked surprised, and she tried to think. "Well…," she said slowly. "I didn't see any, but the soldier line was so long I couldn't see everyone…"

Neru patted me gently on the shoulder. "There is a chance that your lover may be among them, but very slight." The sad, knowing look in her eyes told me that she'd lost one in the war, and more than once. I swallowed up my tears, which were welling up.

"In any case," Neru announced, standing up, "let's go meet them with the Canadian flag."

* * *

The flag was raised in the center of town. Just as the people cheered, a line of camouflage green and tan appeared in the far distance. There were…telling by the irregular spikes, they were carrying guns. I felt sick.

"We wait," Neru whispered to me. My knees were knocking together. I couldn't speak. I simply nodded.

There was a war song. _"Senbonzakura, yoru ni magite…_*****_"_ I didn't think I ever heard that before. Neru's face was set grim as the apparent leader of our town walked forward to greet the soldiers. They halted their singing, and Captain Yuuma stepped forward and tipped his hat at the blue-haired man, who nodded and extended his hand to shake, which Captain Yuuma did.

"Kaito," the man said simply.

Captain Yuuma nodded. "Yuuma."

Silence.

"My commander tell us get some gunpowder from here…" Yuuma started, in broken English. This was not going well. "I was wondering if you could…"

Suddenly I saw a flash of purple.

No, must have been my imagination.

"…will pay back in…"

It was not my imagination. That purple is walking through the crowd, hurrying now, and—

"Gaku-nii?" I said loudly in disbelief, in my native tongue. Captain Yuuma stopped talking. Kaito stopped trying to tell him something. And the rest of the people just stared at me. I blushed.

A young man stepped out from the crowd. I felt my own eyes grow wide. More prominent features, sapphire eyes filled even more deeply with regrets, but…I knew it was him. He wasn't the tall, erect soldier that most would see in movies. He was a soldier, only twenty-three, beaten down by worries and sadness, unsure whether to continue being one or not.

"Gaku-nii," I breathed, repeating what I said. This time I spoke in English, and it came out sounding kind of weird.

"Luka?"

"GAKU-NII!"

Soldiers, captain, leader, and townpeople alike stared in shock as we ran forward from opposite sides. We embraced, heedless of knowing gazes. I never thought I'd smell the scent of him again. Even though it's faded considerably, I could still make out the lavender.

Maybe Neru was wrong.

Maybe soldiers didn't all mean war.

All I knew was, I wanted this moment to last forever.

* * *

It didn't last forever, but I'd gotten enough to fill me up for at least a week.

Captain Yuuma wrote a letter to his commander telling him that he couldn't get the gunpowder because of a "very unusual happening that moved us all".

I finally, _finally_ got the nerve to quit being in the orphanage.

Gakupo and I plan to marry. Even though we call ourselves "brother and sister". But that shouldn't matter because as I said earlier, we aren't related by blood.

I told Gakupo he needed to improve his English. He laughed, ruffled my hair, and called me affectionately that I am his bitch and he is my bastard. Or badass.

We'll settle down as soon as possible. I even planned the names for our future children. Gakuko and Luki. Isn't that sweet?

First, though, I need to leave to write a letter to my orphanage friends that bids them farewell. See you later.

* * *

*** - reference from the song "Senbonzakura".  
**

**...Very different and weird...**

**I didn't quite know what to call Kaito. Forgive me for my ignorance. -.- I pondered over the thought of simply calling him "mayor", but that's...I didn't do much research. Whoever feels offended can tell me and I'll change it immediately.  
**

**I have very little knowledge for the historical things I write about like the Holocaust and this soldier thing. Sorry ****。**(´Д｀。)  


**Phew! Very long chapter anyway. Read and review~!  
**

**~Unyielding Wish  
**


	13. Tell Me Where

**Because I needed a little break, I made this drabble. Nothing too deep; I wasn't trying for the light-and-fluffy either. I just...well, it shouldn't make that much sense at all, since I put it together in like five minutes. -.-; Mediocre work, this is. I'm still at work for the chapters for _BTAOET _and _SAWC_, so I needed something to distract myself... A friend has been coming over for the past two days and my time to work on my chapters is limited. I'm very sorry.**

* * *

Luka moved off to the side as a purplehead breezed past with his group of friends, headed toward a particular place in the school nicknamed "Butterfly Shrine". This was because so many butterflies were attracted to the vibrant flowers and dewy marshland.

_Ever wondered why he hung around the butterflies so much?_

Birds' incoherent sounds answered her silent question.

Luka parted her lips slightly, allowing a sigh to escape and some sharpness of the spring air to float into her mouth at the same time. Its light wisps lingered over her tongue for a moment, tickling the organ, but just as soon it disappeared. So had the amusement of tasting fresh air, fading into the wide blue sky that stretched overhead for miles and miles, neverending.

She leaned against a tree, watching idly as typical students passed by her, chattering about the most recent slice of gossip, or the new substitute teacher.

Anyone who happened to look at her might think that she was just another of those people.

But in truth, Luka was not.

* * *

Luka was…well, she was intimate in her affections. When she got a crush, she got a _crush_. There was almost nothing that could rip her thoughts away from her lover. So it was also hard to calm the war raging in her heart.

She had lived in a sheltered life, and her parents were _not_ interested in Luka getting a boyfriend.

She couldn't tell them either.

Luka grimaced just thinking about what the reaction her parents might harbor. No, it was better to not risk it.

Which was why, again, she could only admire him from a distance.

_(Don't you understand me? I need you.)_

_- Don't leave me alone just now. -  
_

_~ Home? Where's home? I…want to go home too. ~_

_(Living without feeling.)  
_

_-~'~-  
_And with those arms, I want you to hold me tight.

Erase all thoughts of reality.

_-~'~-_

Because I just want to _live._

* * *

**Yeah, can anyone else tell that I was really depressed while writing this?**

**If you really want to, check my profile for why I'm pissed. No, don't press it. Don't mention anything at all.  
**

**As I said before, this isn't made to make sense. This is just...my thoughts...on a document. What's running through my head right now, set in story-mode. Randomness at its full power. No, I'm not in love, I'm not hopeless like Luka is, and my love is not forbidden, BUT. It just felt nice to be ranting the world's unfairness undercover.  
**

**~Unyielding Wish  
**


	14. Piano

**LUKA LUKA NIGHT FEVER!**

**I wrote this while listening to Feb's English version of Luka Luka ~ Night Fever, so if it has a distinct taste of that, I'm sorry -.-; But if it doesn't, yay me :D  
**

**Anyway, I was thinking back about Czerny and pianos...  
**

* * *

Gakupo pushed his glasses up the ridge of his nose, as he listened to a little girl play simple scales to show what she knew about the piano. Her back was tall and erect, almost stiff; and her expression was that of an adult would wear. Her small little face was twisted into an frown that amused even him as her lily white fingers went up and down the piano keys.

_~Flashback~_

_"Hello, Mr. Kamui." A young little girl, no more than nine or ten, stood at the doorway with her hands clenched behind her back. "I am to learn from you."  
_

_"Calling me Gakupo is fine. Why learn from me?"  
_

_The raven-haired girl pursed her lips. "Mommy and Daddy said that if I want to become a professional pianist, I must learn from you."  
_

_She was so serious that if this wasn't about a spot to be a student of his, Gakupo would have laughed tenderly. Instead he simple peered at her over the top of his glasses. "Well, classes cost some money."  
_

_"I know that," she said stiffly, holding out a five hundred-dollar check. "Mommy told me to give this to you."  
_

_~End Flashback~  
_

She was actually pretty skilled. Her blue eyes followed the notes on the old, beaten book she'd brought to class, and only tripped over one or two notes so far.

On the F flat major scale, however, she missed the B flat and skipped right onto C instead. Gakupo laid a hand on her arm; her muscles tightened up for just a moment until they relaxed. The girl looked up at him with huge, childish blue eyes.

"Yes?"

"It sounds like this." Gakupo demonstrated with one hand.

"I know that."

"You played the B flat wrong," Gakupo said, even more amused by Luka's sassiness.

"Oh," she said simply, and played the F flat major again, this time flawlessly.

Needless to say, Gakupo's interest had been triggered by this little odd girl.

* * *

Soon, over the months that passed Gakupo came to know that the girl's name was Luka Megurine. She had been born with a passion of music, and the piano was her first instrument. She loved the color pink, which contrasted the rest of her boyish character. Luka learned very quickly, and only after two years she was already testing for Grade Five in piano levels.

Over the course of about four more years, Luka had already passed Grade Eight, and soon needed a teacher other than Gakupo to teach her.

Even though Gakupo was still a fairly young (but skilled) teacher, he loved her most out of all of his quickly-accumulating students. Luka was now sixteen and able to play for bigger groups than who she usually played for, up until then.

* * *

_Years later_

Gakupo took a tentative seat at the edge of the crowd which had gathered around the young pianist. She was quite famous throughout the country, and he wanted to see who she was, as did much others, as she usually recorded her piano playing and posted it in music videos.

The stage curtain lifted, and there sat a pretty pinkette at the piano.

Gakupo couldn't see clearly—he had forgotten his glasses—but he couldn't help but notice the way she sat in the piano seat was similar to the posture of Luka's. And the way she held her elbows to her sides—oh no, he hasn't forgotten. He was straining to get a better glimpse of her throughout the song—he was quite toward the back—and finally Gakupo had to acknowledge the fact that he would have to push his way through the crowd to get a glance at her, but he didn't quite like to be squeezed between people.

* * *

After minutes of struggling with the pianist's fans, Gakupo finally gave up and decided to take a walk around town.

It was _cold_, dammit, _cold._ The breath of chill could be felt everywhere over the bustling city. Gakupo found a small, run-down restaurant which he entered. A shabby waiter came over to take his order (coffee) and walked away to make it.

Gakupo sat there, sipping his coffee, not even caring about how horribly _bland _it tasted.

Then someone tapped his shoulder.

Gakupo looked up to see aquamarine eyes. "May I sit here?" asked a smooth voice, and Gakupo realized, with some shock, that it was the pinkette.

"Cappuccino," she said to the waiter who returned with something that looked like a pale version of burnt coffee. The pianist swallowed a mouthful but then twisted her face into some expression of dislike.

"Gakupo-sensei, don't you remember me?"

Gakupo choked on his coffee in midsip. Now that he looked at her, she _did _look quite familiar… "Luka?" he said hoarsely.

"I owe it to you that I'm so successful. I saw you at my performance and decided to say hello." Luka continued talking as if nothing as happened. "Chilly night, isn't it?"

Dumbstruck, Gakupo nodded. This night will be of some interest.

* * *

**Uh, I decided to end it here. I began listening to Neko and Nano singing Aimai Elegy. They're quite marvelous singers. People should listen to the less popular utaites - they can be pretty awesome if they want to - instead of sticking to the most popular ones.**

**Anyway, read and review!  
**

**~Unyielding Wish  
**


	15. Halloween

**In honor of Halloween (and Yuuhi Saka), although it is 8:50 p.m. PST, I shall deliver a very short drabblet. Oh, the good old trick-or-treating days.**

* * *

The sky was bruised blue and black, a few clouds floating here and there. The eerie shine of the moon pierced through sometimes through the thick gray clouds, but not often. The Earth below was lit dimly, palely, with moonshine. A pink-haired girl grumbled as she texted hyperspeed on her phone, occasionally pausing to rest her eyes and glare at the boy who skipped cheerfully along with her.

"Couldn't you just go by yourself?" Luka snapped at her little brother.

Luki looked up, blinking at her with wide aquamarine eyes. It was kind of hard to see them, because most of his face was hidden by a bandage, and he had painted his hair blonde. It was a mere personification of Oliver, who everyone knew as a celebrity.

Walking here brought back old memories. There was the same slope that went up ahead. The main reason why Luka didn't want to come was because of that familiar slope: she and Gakupo, when they were only twelve, had walked together up that slope and down hundreds of times, goofing around, laughing, and on the Halloweens they would try to scare the passersby. Luka and Gakupo hadn't been separated, exactly, but after four years they simply drifted away from each other, especially the summer after their 7th year of in school. Gakupo went to work and train at his grandfather's dojo, nestled up in the mountains, with every day filled with pinescent. His grandfather owned a few acres of lands at the foot of the mountain, and that was where Gakupo worked, gathering rice.

Luka hardly saw Gakupo any more. They had a few classes together, but usually they were stationed far away from each other.

"It's fun," Luki objected, bringing Luka back to reality.

She sighed. She didn't want to argue with her obstinate little brother today. Luka was exhausted as it was, and longing for a nice, soaking long bath. _Unfair, very unfair,_ she thought as she walked along with her brother, typing messages onto her cell phone but deleting the drafts.

It seemed pointless to text. Luka had been trying to text Gakupo for the last four years, but whatever message she typed out was childish and inane.

Luka ran her eye along the black text on the glowing white screen. Frustrated, she switched the screen color to dark, and the black text turned to white. She switched it back and forth like this, with no reason but to entertain herself.

_From : Luka_

_To : Gakupo  
_

_Subject : Hello!  
_

_Gakupo, I really miss you…  
_

Luka deleted it, and went on to the next draft.

_From : Luka_

_To : Gakupo  
_

_Subject : I want to tell you something.  
_

_Gakupo, we've been drifting apart for these years. Don't you think…  
_

Extra cheesy, and besides, it seemed as if she was longing for him. No, Luka was not a damsel in distress. Very far from that, she convinced herself.

_From : Luka_

_To : Gakupo  
_

_Subject : We're not perfect, but…  
_

_Like the subject says—  
_

Before even finishing reading the rest of the messages, Luka deleted that one. Too boring.

* * *

Luka was a star student. She was at the top of her grade. She got the best scores in class, teacher's pet or not. Throw a test into her face and she could solve it for however long time. Luka was amazing, and everyone, teachers and students, agreed to this. Luka was also a perfectionist, and would never turn in anything that was anything less than, well, _perfect._ It irritated her when she simply _could not_ make the thing she was working on into something good. Texting was one of those which irked her.

* * *

_I have perfect test scores. Grades. Why can't I text perfectly?_  
Luka demanded of herself as she mindlessly wandered with Luki to someone's doorstep.

She hadn't trick-or-treated in a long time. It certainly would be nice to taste some of that chocolate.

Well, fruit candies were better. Dang, she should have brought a bag.

"Luki, we have to go," Luka said absently, tugging on her brother's sleeve. Her brother remained the place he was. "Luki!" Luka repeated, a bit impatiently.

"Gakupo," Luki said, rooted to the spot.

Luka looked up, and right into the sapphire eyes of her gorgeous crush.

He hadn't changed. Not a bit. The same purple strands curled around his face, elongating into a ponytail that cascaded down his back.

"Hi, Luka," Gakupo said.

Luka's throat closed up. This was not a flawless moment in which Luka was composed. She needed an audience to be composed, and Luki was definitely not a good audience. Luckily, Gakupo took it all in stride. He held up an unwrapped fruit candy that resembled a watermelon or strawberry, the ones with the syrupy, sweet cores and hard, but sweet outsides that Luka loved. Tantalizing candy smells wafted from it.

_(Do candies smell? Maybe it was only Luka's imagination, but it felt like it did smell.)_

"Say 'Aaah,'" Gakupo instructed.

Luka tried to, but all she did was open her mouth. Gakupo popped the candy in.

"Next time," he said, smiling, "bring a bag."

* * *

**I felt this was enough. Let your imagination take you from there. Oh, 9:11 pm! :DDDDD**

**Thank you for reading/reviewing!  
**

**~Unyielding Wish  
**


	16. Thanksgiving

Gakupo found himself excessively bored at a restaurant. It was Thanksgiving day, and still, as he picked at his food, he couldn't help but express some distaste for how it was made. Well, no, not the food_…_Actually, the food was heavenly, but he just didn't have the willpower to go eat it, especially on such a lonely night like this. If only he had a companion to talk to_…_

Gakupo glanced around himself. There were families sitting around at tables, chatting, and off to the right she spotted a couple sitting with each other and getting cozy.

_…__And what do I have?_ Gakupo asked himself in annoyance, staring at the empty seat across from him.

As the time passed, people poured into the restaurant in torrents, taking up all the spaces. Gakupo only sat there, eating at his own pace. He considered going to check his inbox on his phone for the thousandth time for any new texts, but who would listen to his pleas now?

Kaito?

Meiko?

Miku?

The Kagamines?

His sister, Gumi?

They were all somewhere, having fun. Except_…_

With a jolt, Gakupo remembered Luka. She seemed so solitary, so alone. Would she_…_?

_To: Luka_

_From: Gakupo  
_

_Luka, do you think you can come to Voca Brew Pot today, right now?  
_

Gakupo's thumb hit the enter key, and a few seconds later Luka replied.

_To: Gakupo_

_From: Luka  
_

_The one next to the Vocaloid house?  
_

~'~'~

_To: Luka_

_From: Gakupo  
_

_Yup.  
_

And that was that.

* * *

Luka slid into the seat across from Gakupo, glancing over her shoulder at all the people waiting in line. ''Are you sure I can just come like this?'' she asked. ''They look as if they've been waiting for a somewhat long time_…_''

"I asked," Gakupo replied. "It's alright."

Thanksgiving dinner turned out to be fine after all.

* * *

**Well that was seriously short. I thought I might want to write for Thanksgiving before it's tomorrow (time passes really fast).**

** Happy Thanksgiving, and thank you for reading/reviewing! :] Have a nice dinner!  
~Unyielding Wish  
**


	17. Christmas Eve and Day

**It's Christmas Eve, and I don't even have a new drabble! D: Well, enjoy this new addition~! (There is some swearing)  
**

* * *

After a rush of crazed holiday shopping, Christmas Eve dawned quietly. It crept on Gakupo so quietly that he almost didn't notice until he went to the calendar to cross out another day. Usually one would expect Christmas Eve to come with a lot of bustle, but it didn't. It was quiet and peaceful, just like Christmas itself, just like Christ himself. And Gakupo was happy that that was so, because he wasn't the type of man to, well, simply put, like a lot of action.

He had all of his presents to the rest of the Vocaloids all boxed up and packed. Gumi and Lily first because they were his siblings; then the main Vocaloids, the Crypton Vocaloids, came next. Rin, Len, Miku, Kaito, Meiko, and the woman who had him pinned—Luka.

The Christmas tree of the Vocaloids was huge. Partly because it needed to house the gifts given to each other by more than forty Vocaloids, and partly because the gifts given were quite huge. (Once, Gakupo had seen Meiko, the violent one, try to cram a roadroller down there for Rin and Len's Christmas present, because they wanted one.)

So his gifts. They were wrapped in shiny, metallic lavender wrapping paper, better known as aluminum foil, with a swash of each Vocaloid's color on it. They made a crisp crinkling sound when touched, and caught every ray of light directed at them, so you couldn't miss them. Each present was color coded—so the gifts given to Gakupo were purple or at least with a tinge of purple that everybody could see.

Gakupo looked for a tag that said "from Luka," but couldn't find it yet. However, the rest of the Vocaloids had theirs under the tree.

* * *

"Mistletoeeeee!" Miku sang as she waltzed into the living room. Mainly, only the Crypton and Internet families were there for the Christmas feast. It was Christmas morning (already!) and everybody was trying to suppress their excitement and anticipation for their gifts. But Miku stirred them even further. She held the mistletoe high up over her head. "Come on, who wants a kiss?"

Kaito shifted in his seat, and Gakupo detected a little _something something_ in his gaze directed at Miku and the mistletoe.  
Meiko glared over at Kaito.

Luka sighed and began to serve the dishes. As she passed him, she made no apparent notice to him to the rest of the Vocaloids, but he caught a wink directed his way. Gakupo took to imagining what his gifts would be. He already had an estimation of what most of the Vocaloids had in store for him, because they gave him close to the same things each year. Only Luka's gifts for him varied, but her gifts were different for all of the Vocaloids each year.

He thought about _his_ gift to her. A coupon for an 80% discount at one of her most favorite restaurants, Salmon & Tuna Grill. Also a handmade card admitting "I love you" to her. He blushed just thinking about it.

Gakupo couldn't eat much this time. He was just worrying about what Luka would feel when she saw that, and what his gift would be.

"Present time!" Rin finally cheered when everybody was done, and she and Len ran off to rip the wrapping paper off of their presents.

Gakupo slowly got up and dusted off his samurai uniform before following everyone else. He took his gifts up to his room, and thankfully, none were too large. Then, with a plop, he set them all down on the bed and began to take them out one by one.

There was a bottle of inexpensive _sake_ from Meiko, a pair of blue earrings from Kaito (_It goes with your eyes!_ Kaito had wrote. _It cost me 900 yen! They're plastic!_ Gakupo wasn't sure if Kaito was mocking him), a scarf with integrated shades of purple from Miku, a new sheathe for his samurai sword from Gumi, some purple nail polish from Lily (Lily honestly gave him nail polish every single year, just very creative shades of purple with very creative, colorful names; this one was called Fucking Sexy Purple that looked just like her Bitch's Purple Bra from last year), and powder blue eyeshadow from Rin and Len. Finally, only Luka's gift was left.

_I'm going to get some coffee,_ Gakupo decided, getting up. He'd open her gift later.

* * *

Sipping coffee and newly refreshed, Gakupo unraveled the ribbon that tied Luka's gift, his heart thumping wildly.

Immediately when the wrapping paper fell away, a grin split Gakupo's face.

_She_ had given _him_ a coupon from one of _his_ most favorite restaurants, Eggplant Heaven. And the card…

_I just wanted to tell you that I like you, maybe even love you. - Luka_

* * *

Meanwhile, in Luka's room, Luka drank some peppermint-flavored hot chocolate before painstakingly untying the ribbon of Gakupo's gift, her heart throwing itself against her ribcage.

Immediately when she peeled off the wrapping paper, her luscious lips stretched into a huge smile.

_He_ had given _her_ a coupon from one of _her_ most favorite restaurants, Salmon & Tuna Grill. And the card…

_I love you, Luka. - Gakupo_

* * *

**I was blushing while I was writing this lol XD**

**Well, this is finished! I'll make a New Year's one sometime later...maybe on New Year's...but I'll be in China by then, so I don't know if I could use the computer for such a long time...  
**

**Thank you for reading/reviewing!  
**

**~Unyielding Wish  
**


	18. The Little Match Girl

**A year passes so fast ;_;**

**It makes me nostalgic remembering my childhood. I can't think straight and tell you some stuff about it right now, because my sister is watching this really dramatic TV drama. (They always have that affect on me.) For some reason, Chinese dramas always involve a relationship and the girl always cries and the guy is just always really impatient and does random awkward stuff. It's just...so odd... But aren't all TV dramas like that? Anyway, I'm just listening on. Now apparently she switched the channel to a TV drama that involves fighting. We just skipped, so I don't know what's going on right then, but this little girl was abused or something, and her bro rescued her... It's _sad_, but I just don't want to watch it.  
Okay, good, now I can begin writing, because she skipped to a sports channel (gymnastics).  
**

**Enjoy~  
**

* * *

Northern England was a snowy, beautiful place when Christmas Eve entered upon the world. The Christmas lights, so colorful and mellow, were draped everywhere over bushes, on the rooftops, or any other surface that was snow-dusted and twinkling as the cold sun came up to melt the snow.

So many families were preparing a new year's feast. The mouthwatering smell of roast geese lingered in the warm, toasty air of many houses.

All except one.

A little girl, wrapped in naught but a shawl, shivered in the corner of the one-room house. It was old, and should have been depleted by the heavy snowing this year at Christmastime, but a kindly man traveling south from Scotland had helped her father fix it so that it wouldn't topple over by the screaming, howling bitter winds, driven to knock down this poor, shabby little shelter.

_Her father._

She shuddered in remembrance. He was little better than a drunken bastard, always drowning his worries with a shot of whiskey. He abused her brother to no end until he chose to run away. He turned to abuse her, too.  
And he gambled away their money.

She and he were poor to the point that often, this little girl had to go out on the streets and sell candles. Tallow candles, that took forever to make, and only five at a time because her father could not even buy those useful candle-making machines. And they _smelled_. It was backbreaking, hard work that was suited for a naughty boy.

The little girl was a rosette, with beautiful high light-reflecting cheekbones that resembled her mother's, a slim body that would develop into an hourglass figure, and wide aquamarine eyes. Her beauty did nothing to her father, however; if possible, it only drove him farther. She so looked like her mother that he would not have it. He was driven mad by need when her mother died in birthing her, and swore to God that he would never forgive this child. This beaten man also swore to God that he would never forgive Him, and either burnt or hid away all the family Bibles that he could find in the house. Anything about God, his child would have to scour the bookshelves of the school, and he vowed that she would never go when she was of age.

Meanwhile, the tallow supply was running low. She and he both knew that she would have to go on the streets to sell matches soon, a sign that they had lowered themselves to the level of being dirt-poor.

Life was cruel.

* * *

The Scottish man had a Scottish boy. He was at least fifteen, a good eight years older than the little girl.

The boy had smoky sapphire eyes that were only a few shades darker than the little girl's. He had long purple locks often put into a ponytail and a squat black cap sat almost always on his head. His normal outfit was a plaid, collared shirt; a tan vest; and long black trousers with black boots. He was tall, inheriting this from his father, and always walked with a lankiness, his hands shoved into his pockets. He knew how to work a team of oxen or horses, and he often delivered mail to the families of northern England, after the Scottish man decided that he and his boy would settle here.

They lived not far from the little girl's house.

The boy's name was Gakupo. He didn't often deliver mail to the little girl's house, the house of the man Luki Megurine, but one day a tax collector's warning arrived.

Gakupo was to deliver this letter to "Luki Megurine and his daughter, Luka" immediately.

* * *

Luki Megurine's face mirrored his curiosity when Gakupo handed him the letter. Not much people sent them mail, after all. Luki's relatives considered him a dishonor to his name and disowned him, and Luka didn't know anybody too well except for him.

He had been drinking again. In his drunk stupor, he clumsily ripped out the letter, but could not read the words.

"Boy!" Luki yelled harshly, to Gakupo, who was about to turn back to his wagon. "Come here and read this for me."

Gakupo quickly walked back and gingerly accepted the letter from Luki. Luki terrified him; he was a man of mercurial interests. Gakupo cleared his throat and began to read.

_Luki Megurine and his daughter, Luka—_

_The tax is overdue three months. We are sorry to inform you that, one more week's delay, you will be thrown in jail by—  
_

"Shut up!" Luki Megurine roared at this point. "SHUT—UP!"

Gakupo, startled, shut up and looked up at him.

"Gimme that letter!"

Gakupo gave it to him.

Luki shoved the paper in his face. "See this? _See this_? You stupid boy, you… you…" He seemed to be at a loss of what to say next, and promptly stomped out to drink some whiskey. There would be plenty of time to contemplate this stupid letter later. Luki Megurine was definitely looking forward to a brawl, a brawl with the tax collector. He hadn't had one in a long time. Besides, that high-up man cheated them; the tax collector would not get his wishes so easily this time.

* * *

Gakupo stood there not knowing what to do. Should he just leave, or wait until the man comes back? Gakupo had a feeling that Luki Megurine would not be happy if he just left, but he himself would not want to stay this long. Besides, he had a load of mail.

Then he heard a soft whimper.

_A… dog?_

Simply out of curiosity, Gakupo went to look.

* * *

Luka raised her eyes when she heard a shuffle, and her eyes met those of Gakupo's.

"Why… are you here?" she asked in a small voice.

"What?"

"Daddy told me to not let strangers in the house…" Luka was confused, her thoughts muddled. After Luki had gotten back to beat her, she couldn't think straight. It would take her a while for her to recover again. "So… why… are you here?"

Gakupo took an eyeful of Luka. She was beautiful, even for a seven-year-old, but bruises and cuts told another story.

"Does he beat you? Often?"

"He just did," Luka said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Gakupo, Luka."

"How do you know _my_ name?"

"I'm the boy who delivers mail. Of course I'd know your name." Gakupo smiled. Luka was queer, but he liked her personality.

"Oh. Do you think it smells in here?"

Out of politeness, Gakupo denied it, though there _was_ a very pungent scent that wasn't exactly aromatic.

"I guess the smell of tallow can't be smelt by strangers." Luka sighed. "Who do you give mail to?"

With a jolt, Gakupo realized that he would be late coming back home. His father's recipients would _not_ be happy. Hastily he stood up. "I'm sorry, Luka, but I have to go."

"Come back, okay?" Luka pleaded him. "I like you."

_I like you, too,_ Gakupo thought, but he didn't say so.

* * *

New Year's Eve came quickly. In the days between, Gakupo had been so busy that he forgot to try to find a way to talk to Luka again. He didn't love her as a lover; he loved her, however affectionately, as a little sister, the little sister he never had. When somebody loves another like that, it was hard to rip their thoughts away from this person.

On New Year's Eve, the torrent of mail stopped. Everything was quiet. His father was making food since Gakupo was too busy to do so as well.

It was a simple feast. New Year's was a day for celebration. Gakupo was disappointed; there was no way, _again_, for him to visit Luka. But he did not word this to his father.

* * *

Luka had much the same thoughts. As the Megurine family grew poorer every day, Luki Megurine finally gave up in annoyance.

"Here, bitch," he snarled, thrusting a basket of matches to Luka and her mother's old slippers. "Take these out tonight to sell."

Luka didn't dare tell him that nobody would be looking for matches on the New Year's night.

* * *

Luka's bare, frostbitten, numb feet were blue with cold, but she forged on through the night, gasping and panting. She had tripped and lost one of her slippers; and the other slipper, a simple street urchin and taken, thinking it would be useful for a cradle when he had children himself. Rich, snobby boys and girls sledded throughout the night, pinching their noses at her and laughing. Luka did not want to return to the poor shelter. She had not sold a single match, and her father would beat her senseless. He would only spare her if the entire box of matches was gone and the basket filled with money.

Luka wanted to go to Gakupo's house, but she did not know where it was.

Here she came to two houses, nestled with each other along an inner corner. Neither were Gakupo's; Gakupo's house, she was sure, would be little and comfortable; these were tall and imposing. But Luka, thoroughly tired, sat down to rest. The wall gleamed enticingly to her, and the smell of New Year's Eve dinner wafted out deliciously. If she dared take out one match…

Luka, with cold, fumbling fingers, stroke the match against the wall. A thin, meek flame aroused itself. How beautiful, how golden that flickering flame was! Luka's hands were instantly warm. She could almost see, in that flame, a large potbellied stove that warmed up the room. _Beautiful!_ Luka breathed to herself. She stretched out her feet to warm them as well, but suddenly a wind came, intent on dousing the fire, and the flame snuffed out. The only remains of that lovely stove was the burnt match in her hand, smoking gently. Luka's imagination could not do any good on this, and she frowned.

Surely her father would not be mad at her for taking another match.

She did so, and stroke it against the wall again. In that flame, the wall melted away. There was a table set before her, trimmed with shining gold. A brass candleholder stood in the middle, and scented candles emitted their smells—such difference from the dismal little match Luka held in her hand! A huge, roasted, stuffed duck sat in a huge silver platter on the table, rimmed with so many spices. There were stews and fruits and vegetables and sweets… anything a love- and food-hungry child could dream up of. Her eyes focused on the duck: it came closer—and closer…

The candle flame was snuffed out yet again.

Luka sighed in frustration. She picked up her basket, and walked a few more steps. She had almost gotten back to her house, and her blood ran cold when she saw that broken-down house just a few houses away.

Luka sat down to stall some time. Undeterred this time, she picked up a match and stroke it against the wall of, what she didn't know, the wall of Gakupo's house.

It was a Christmas tree, glinting in the lights, although Christmas season had just passed. The star on the top of the Christmas tree rose… and rose, until it was a star in the sky. Then a trail blazed from behind it, and it disappeared into smoke.

"Somebody has just arisen into heaven," Luka breathed, for she remembered that old tale her grandmother and mother used to tell her.

And then, what she did see was her grandmother.

Her grandmother, albeit looking younger, was just the same. Her beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes, and those black cat ears poking out of her head.

"Grandmother!" Luka cried, and her grandmother engulfed her in a hug. Just then, the wind's howl told her that it was coming, and the candle's flame flicked.

"No!" Luka vigorously rubbed the rest of her matches against the wall. "Don't leave me! You will disappear just like the rest of the flames. I won't have that!" She was so angry, so angry with the creator of nature.

Those matches burnt brightly, and even the strongest of winds, Luka knew now, would not blow the flame away. The night, surprisingly, had passed. Dawn was about to break out on the new year. As it was, Luka had one last request… She looked up in the eyes of her grandmother, pleading, just like she had pleaded to with Gakupo. This time, though, she hoped it be true. Her grandmother smiled gently down at her.

"Yes, Luka?"

"I… haven't had a Christmas gift in a long time. Surely I could have now, in the light of the new year?"

"Certainly."

"As my Christmas gift, I want… to be with you." Luka quivered. "To be with you and Mommy. Daddy is… so mean. He beats me. I just… want to be with you."

"Oh, Luka," her grandmother said softly. "Come here." She opened her arms, and Luka flew into her bosom.

Dawn burst forth with a dazzling array of lights, and the matches with them. In Luka's grandmother's warm embrace, Luka traveled upward, upward, above hunger, above cold, above her sadness and heartache. She was safe now; she would rest in peace.

* * *

It was the new year, and Gakupo quickly burst out of the door, and would have run straight out to Luka's house if not for the cold body that blocked his doorstep. In surprise, Gakupo looked down, and his eyes were greeted with a shocking sight. Luka. On the doorstep. A frozen smile graced her lips, and her eyes were shut gently. If Gakupo hadn't known better, he would have thought she was asleep.

Burnt matches littered the ground beside her, along with an old basket. Luka was barefoot. Her shawl was torn.

_No, Luka, no…_

"She just wanted to have a little warmth, son," said Gakupo's father sadly, coming out with his mug to inspect what his son was gaping over. "She just… wanted to have a little warmth."

Yet Gakupo could read a message that his father couldn't.

_I'm in heaven,_ Luka's smile seemed to assure him. _I'm alright._

He could never be sure, though.

* * *

**Yes, heavy reference of _The Little Match Girl_ in here. My rendition. Hans Christian Andersen is a genius. I wasn't sure why I wanted to make both characters like this, but this came into my mind in the last second. I'll be publishing this today, on the 29th (or thirtieth, because I'm in China), because I can~  
**

**Thank you for reading/reviewing!  
**

**~Unyielding Wish  
**


	19. The Result of Red and Pink Hearts

**This is not a real drabble. It's a little more than that. Enjoy, everyone, and happy early Valentine's Day~**

* * *

A five-year-old purplehead sat at a table, humming happily as he cut out a heart from red construction paper. He was going to mount it on pink construction paper and write love messages within it.

Mommy would be pleased, he was sure. Mommy's hair was pink like the pink construction paper. She'd love something that was similar to her hair.

She hadn't been smiling lately. Daddy hadn't been coming home. He hadn't been ever since the fight.

Little Gakupo shuddered to think of it.

Daddy threw things. A lot. And they shouted and cursed at each other. It ended with Daddy stomping off and Mommy crying. Gakupo couldn't comfort Mommy. She just hugged him and kept crying.

The fight was yesterday.

Gakupo wanted Mommy to stop crying.

In the morning, her eyes were red with tears. She hugged him, whispering, "You are the only link I have left," and then he went to the kindergarten classes and she drove away. Gakupo wondered what she meant. A lot of the things she said didn't make sense after the fight.

With a little tug at his inside heart, Gakupo continued on the paper heart. His scissors slipped and made a cut where it wasn't supposed to be.

_Oh, no!_

Mommy would be displeased!

Then his quick little mind thought of something, and he flipped the Valentine over, taking a purple marker and messily scrawling,

"I made a cut because I was thinking of you! It's a bleeding heart!"

Why would it be bleeding?

"It's bleeding because of my love for you! I love you, Mommy! Forever and ever! Don't cry! XXX"

He never really _did_ get why they used x's for love, but right now, it didn't matter a bit! Mommy would be happy that his heart bled for her.

Gakupo looked eagerly at the calendar. _February 6, 2013._  
He drew a line from the sixth to the fourteenth, counting eagerly.

"One… two… three… four… five… six… seven…" His little forehead creased with frustration and dismay. "There's _eight_ more days until next Thursday!"

He couldn't possibly wait _that_ long… could he?

_Yes, he could!_

Gakupo cut the pink heart out and pasted the red heart onto the pink heart. Then he wrote a little rhyme in the middle of the red heart, and an address to Mommy.

When the time came, he would give it to her. She would be unspeakably pleased.

The teacher always said to make good use of your time. Well, today he did! Gakupo happily cleared the scraps off his table, and hurried to the recycle bin to dump it.

* * *

**I had fun. Could you tell? Childish innocence is something that is _really_ easy to write about.  
**

**Oh dear, it's been nine months (almost) since I've published this. I still remember the leap year. Ha. Until 2016, we won't have another February 29th.  
**

**I always did love Valentine's Day. Especially that sugary stuff you get. Although not as much as Halloween, but... still.  
**

**Thank you for reading/reviewing~  
**

**~Unyielding Wish  
**


	20. Pi Day

**Before I forget... Pi Day! (: Have to remind myself to publish a St Patrick's Day one too. I'm going away on April 1, so I'll have to publish my April Fools' chapter on March 31.**

* * *

It was Pi Day.

Luka nervously played with the ruffles on her skirt. One by one, Gakupo-sensei called up the kids in his class to recite at least the first fourteen digits of pi, including the ones digit. Hardly anyone remembered anything, and she thought she probably wouldn't, either.

After all, what was the chance of _her_ getting more than fourteen digits when half of the twenty students in the class couldn't?

So she waited. And waited. And waited.

Finally, Gakupo-sensei pushed his thick, black-framed glasses up his nose and called, "Megurine Luka."

As Luka obediently walked up, she noticed that he was looking slightly discouraged. _What? Gakupo-sensei discouraged? It couldn't be!_ But he must be just an inkling upset that his efforts on pi were, well, wasted. Even though Luka couldn't understand why they'd need to memorize more than 3.14, she figured that it must be an interesting thing to remember, since if Gakupo-sensei recommended it it was always interesting or important.

Luka cleared her throat once. No, twice. Three times, she coughed. When she finally opened her mouth, summoning up the courage to say something in front of the class, Luka realized with panic that she couldn't even remember the first three digits.

"Pi," she said nervously.

"Yes, Luka," Gakupo soothed. "Pi. Just do as well as you can."

"Three…" Luka swallowed. "Three… point one four one five nine."

"Seven digits. Seven more, and you'll get an A. Go on," Gakupo-sensei encouraged her.

"One six five…"

"Four more!"

"Three… five…"

"You can do it!" Miku said sardonically—_she's only memorized the first three digits, so I guess she should be rooting me on_, Luka thought wryly. But as Luka reached into her mind for the next two digits, she found out that she couldn't remember.

_What?_

No! This couldn't be happening. Only two more digits! Without those two digits, she'd get a B. A simple, plain B. Mommy and Daddy wouldn't be happy about _that_.

Come on! Think! Think! What could the next two digits possibly be?

"Eight…?" Luka ventured.

Gakupo-sensei nodded. "One more."

Luka vaguely remembered that it was either nine or six. She'd written it down a bunch of times, but now as she envisioned the plain white paper and the neat handwriting on it, both nine and six seemed to fit. She'd have to take a guess, then.

"Nine," Luka squeaked, her eyes on Gakupo's.

He nodded and smiled. "Would you like to go on?"

What? Go on? Extra credit?

"Seven nine seven two three eight four six…"

Did Luka really say that? Did that really come out of her mouth? Where did she get it, anyway? Must be Saint Patrick's Day's luck; after all, it was only three days away. Or maybe the magic of Pi Day was getting to her. Luka was not very superstitious; she had been raised Atheist, anyway, so she dismissed the idea. But still, she'd only really reviewed the first fourteen digits. The rest of them Luka skimmed over but didn't pay much attention to. Her brain soaked up all of the things after the fourteen digits, and yet Luka was having trouble with the first fourteen digits.

"Any more?" Gakupo asked, to which Luka shook her head. "Well then, Luka, you have the most digits of pi so far. Let's see how this day lasts, shall we?" He smiled, all traces of discouragement gone, and Luka skipped back to her seat.

* * *

At the end of the day, Luka was crowned as The Official Queen of Circles of Room 306.

Of course, for those who had perverted minds, titters rose from a couple of areas of the class, but Luka decided she'd kick their shins another day.

* * *

**Anyone else think that these short stories are decreasing in quality? I really must put my mind to one later.  
Holy shit... I really need to write Cloven Dream, but I'm worn out...**

**Why must Pi Day be so cruel to me D:**

**(thank you for reading/reviewing anyway cuz i have no life)**

**~Unyielding Wish**


	21. St Patrick's Day: Wishful Thinking?

The field was a vast sea of green, the trimmed grass tops waving in the wind.

Gakupo thrust his hands in his pockets and his gaze skimmed the field. Clovers crowded the entire space, but he wasn't sure if he could find any "special" clovers—that is, four-leafed ones. He'd come awfully close, though, but they turned out to be three-leafed clovers.

He kicked at a clump of grass, a little dejected and just the slightest bit wistful. Wouldn't it be great if there was a land where four-leafed clovers prospered and all they needed were regular clovers? But that was just wishful thinking.

Gakupo needed luck today, especially since it was St. Patrick's Day, _the_ St. Patrick's Day.  
And he was going on his first visit to Luka's house. It was for a project, of course, of which they were paired together, but he couldn't help but feel that something else would bloom too.

He reached down and pulled up a handful of clovers, carefully sorting them out, hoping to the sky that a four-leafed clover would be buried _somewhere_.

At the bottom of the pile, he came across a peculiar form of the clover. Four heart-shaped leaves.

Gakupo's mouth was sandy, and his heartbeat raced. _Please, please don't let it be just another trick of the eye._ He carefully lifted the shamrock by one leaf, and it was still intact: four leaves.

_Wishful thinking, indeed,_ he thought wryly with the slightest smirk as he gently pocketed the clover and headed for Luka's house.

* * *

**Lucky Gakupo... I was never able to find a four-leafed clover before. Happy St. Patrick's Day, and thanks to all that read/reviewed! (for my followers, look for two more email alerts saying I published something else)  
**

**~Unyielding Wish**


	22. Easter and April Fools

**Happy Easter~ (;  
_Note:_****The Easter fic and the April Fools' fic will be put into one for now. Later, I'll separate them.****  
**

* * *

_**Easter**_

As a volunteer at a local Christian church program (though she really wasn't religious), Luka was required to attend at every special event. Including Easter, of course. That involved today.

Strangely enough, this year's Easter fell on a March day, not April, which was the usual Easter Sunday.

Easter had always been symbolic to Luka—chocolate rabbits, eggs, baskets. Like Christmas. She never really thought about why Easter was celebrated in the first place; nor did she particularly care, until she became a volunteer not so long ago. But after a few meetings, the preacher made it clear… he even had a historical timeline set up on the wall**_:_**

_Thursday is the approximate day for which Jesus was crucified._

_Good Friday is celebrated bec__ause that is the day Jesus died._

_Easter Sunday is when He rose up from the dead._

And so Luka really _couldn't_ not care, especially with the preacher's passionate, passionate teachings.

"So." Gakupo, another volunteer (he was more religious than Luka), plopped down on a chair beside the rosette. His sapphire eyes surveyed the eager masses of children, ready to go for the Easter Egg Hunt.

"Hi," Luka offered.

Gakupo smiled. "It's going to be quite a day today, yup?"

"And I get my share of candy later on."

"_Luka_, Easter isn't about—"

"I was joking." Luka was. _I am?_ Religion was getting to her. She had been raised an Atheist, taught to never lean on religion as a crutch. But it wouldn't hurt to enjoy a day of… religion, would it? Or was that considered sinful and greedy?

She'd sort that out later. She'd never had these thoughts before, especially on Easter.

Gakupo arched a fine eyebrow. "Well, here they come."

"Ready~!"

Easter. Hmm.

* * *

_**April Fools'**_

Luka woke up on her Science Camp bunk, feeling undoubtedly cranky. She knew why.

"Don't bother me with April Fools' tricks!" she snapped irritably as she got up to shower—before someone else claimed the bathroom. This was probably unneeded, because she'd probably get showered with tricks later on due to her provoking it. But she was so annoyed of them, especially if her secret crush, Gakupo, came to play a trick on her today.

Her prediction was correct. Each hour, Luka would find one of her things misplaced or missing. Miku, Rin, and Len darted around, giggling behind their hands. Gumi—shy, quiet Gumi—wasn't that much of a help, because she lent a hand or two on a few pranks.

And so the day ended for Luka, with her mood worse than when she started.

Thankfully, nothing had gone wrong with Gakupo, which was probably just as well. He hardly knew her anyway.

Then on her bunk, Luka discovered a chocolate treat with a note that said, _From your love, Gakupo._

Her head spun. Her cheeks flamed. _From your love, Gakupo?_ That couldn't be real. How did Gakupo know that she liked him? Did he mean that he liked her back? Where was the logic in that?

And how did he sneak into the girls' cabin, anyway?

Then she knew. It was one of Miku's tricks. The fifth one today. She'd get the little brat for that tomorrow. But when Luka took a closer look at the note, she noticed that the handwriting wasn't Miku's—it was the one of Gakupo's, the one she favored so much.

_Huh…?_

With her counselor's permission, Luka barged into Gakupo's cabin, dragging him out of bed and out into the cold, chilly night. His long purple hair was tousled and lay adorably in wisps around his face. She would have admired them any other day, but today… Luka thrust the treat in Gakupo's face.

"Is it poisoned?" she demanded.

He looked confused. "… No."

Wait, how did he know?

"So how did it end up on my bunk?"

"Oh. Miku delivered it for me," he said naturally.

Luka turned red again. _Stupid Miku, stupid Miku, stupid—…_

"Of course, I knew you liked me for a long time, although your tsundere nature hid it quite well," he went on. "I thought it might have been a little agonizing to look at me from a distance so long, so… you know…"

"YOU IDIOT!" Luka screamed, punching him. "If you don't like me, then you don't have to bother!" Selfish, selfish bastard, idiot bastard, that guy was.

"But I do like you." Gakupo looked more confused than ever.

Now Luka didn't know what he was talking about either. "What?"

"… Never mind. We can talk about it tomorrow all we want." There was a wolf whistle from within the cabin, and Gakupo grinned slightly. "I think they heard the entire conversation. Now Luka, you must be sleepy, go sleep."

Later, on her bunk, Luka found the forbidden treat very enjoyable.

Though she still planned to kill Miku tomorrow.

Oh, yes, and Gakupo. Let's not forget Gakupo.

* * *

**I think April Fools' Story is the best I've come up with so far...  
**

**Anyhow, review? Thanks! :D**

**~Unyielding Wish**


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